Digimon Legacy
by OMNISENSE95
Summary: The life's of five children are changed when they learn that they are Digimon reborn as humans, called DigiCarnates, and have to protect both their world and the Digital world from an evil force seeking to take over these two worlds. But are they the only ones?
1. Begin the Resurrection

**I hate myself. Here's another new story… this time, my version of a season of the Digimon anime. I'm actually surprised no one came up with an idea like this. Or if someone has, send me an PM and direct me to it. Anyway, enjoy! Oh, I don't own Digimon, any karaoke song used in here, only the characters and original Digimon.**

* * *

_**Digimon Legacy**_

_**Episode 1**_

**Begin the Resurrection**

It was dawn in the bustling Ikebukuro district of Tokyo. The residents were mostly still asleep, completely oblivious to the world around them. And yet, this peace cannot last. Standing atop the highest building in Ikebukuro, was a boy, roughly seventeen years of age, his face hidden in shadow, his body backlit by the rising sun. He appeared to flipping a medallion of some kind in his right hand, like an American 1920's gangster.

"Soon, my brothers…" the boy murmured under his breath. "Soon…"

* * *

_A massive dragon-like creature lay crippled in a huge crater, completely out of breath. Looming above it was a huge monster with a gigantic mouth._

"_Oh… how the mighty have fallen…" the monster hissed. "I shall take much pleasure in erasing you…"_

"_Not before… I TAKE YOU WITH ME!" The dragon man roared in defiance. The two charged at each other-_

* * *

The alarm clock blared loudly, jolting the young boy out of his sleep. He had crystalline green eyes, a somewhat flat nose, and short, wild brown hair. He seemed to be roughly thirteen years of age. His name was Takashi Horiba.

Takashi slammed his hand on the alarm, silencing it instantly.

"That dream again…" he whispered. Takashi had been having this same nightmare for the past five weeks. He simply could not shake the feeling that it meant something… something about him, his destiny and…

Takashi shook the thought away. He had more important things to worry about. He could hear his father calling to him from the living room downstairs, telling him to get dressed. Takashi quickly slipped out of bed and changed into his normal clothes; light grey khaki shorts, white sneakers with flame designs on them, a black t-shirt under an open white jacket with a big red dot on the back like the Japanese flag, a lizard-skin bandanna to hold back his hair, and round, red goggles over the bandanna.

He speedily performed the rest of his morning routine, ran downstairs to the living room, grabbed a single piece of toast, and ran out the door, his father having little time to ask him where he was going.

Frank Horiba sighed in frustration. His son was always like this; ever since his wife, Victoria, had died four years ago, Takashi was constantly wasting his time at that stupid karaoke bar with his friend, Makoto "Mac" Inumoto, singing American pop/hard rock hits from last half century and staring at karaoke star Yuna Hikarine, his secret crush. With all that time he was wasting, Takashi almost never spent time with his father and younger sister, Erin. Frank glanced at the picture of his deceased wife sitting on the shelf next to the doorway. Her gentle green eyes still seemed to glow with the love she had for her family.

"If only you were still here…" Frank whispered silently.

He suddenly heard a crash in the kitchen. Before he could move to investigate, a pair of scaly hands grabbed his wrists, restraining him. His last thought before he passed out was the prayer for Takashi's safety.

* * *

Takashi was dashing for the bar now, more than eager to start his day. He could see Mac standing by the entrance waiting for him.

Mac was about the same age as Takashi, give-or-take a few months. He had stunning gold eyes, like those of a wolf, silver hair that went down to his shoulders, and a slightly muscular build. He was wearing a light blue tank top, faded jeans, and black sandals.

"About time you showed up, Takashi," Mac stated humorlessly. "What kept you up, lost control of it again?" To answer Mac's question, Takashi held up his left hand, and snapped his fingers. A tiny flame appeared in his palm, not burning his skin in the least.

That was Takashi's curse; he had limited pyrokinesis. It was simply something he was born with… however, when he was a little kid, he didn't have very good control over it. The other kids were scared of him for this reason, meaning he didn't have many friends outside of Mac, who similarly had the ability to read minds, and could empathize with Takashi.

Takashi extinguished the fire by closing his hand around it, showing he still had a good degree of control over his power.

"Does that answer your question?" Takashi asked impatiently. "Now let's get in there already!" With that, Takashi proceeded to drag Mac into the bar; silently hoping Yuna was in there.

Yuna was just taking the stage as Mac and Takashi came in. She was a beautiful girl, thirteen years old with blonde hair that went down her back, held back in an elegant braid, eyes as blue as the afternoon sky, and a face comparable to Helen of Troy. She wore a beautiful violet shirt, beneath a bright pink jacket, a mid-length red skirt, and elegant high-tops.

And her voice… it was like a chorus of angels to Takashi's ears, and the very reason for his affections to the Obikiwan girl. He always loved hearing her sing.

"_Light Song_

_In the darkness somewhere in the night (Light song)_

_I will bring you back into my light (Light song)_

_Even if I can no longer hold you tight (Light song, light song, light song)_

_And I will call…_

_I will call out your name…"_

Especially when she sang this particular song. It was his favorite Miku Hatsune song.

"_Back in those lazy days, my world had turned so strange_

_Sunk into the gloom, I came to assume_

_That my life would never change._

_One single touch from you, to me here from the start_

_A feeling so warm began to transform_

_All the sadness in my heart_

_This rhythm resonates the beat down in your soul_

_I pray, today, that somehow you could hear me and know_

_I remember the sky we watched so blue_

_I keep it in my heart which matches hue_

_These hazy memories of the times we shared drift through my mind far to you_

_Oh, the breeze that gently passed us by…_

_Where is it now, my love? I wonder why_

_The city lights above remind me of this history with you, now that we're through"_

Oh, how Takashi's heart burned in her presence.

None of these three took notice of the other customers. There were three in particular that stood out.

The first was a boy about fifteen years old, with blue eyes and brown hair, wearing a green and orange striped shirt with yellow stars at certain intervals, and black jeans. His name was Alex Sakurachi

Second, a younger child, only ten, with innocent brown eyes, blonde hair, a light green hoodie, and a small charm around his neck. This was Sammy Kitsune.

The last costumer was more malevolent looking. This was a seventeen year old boy, with ice-cold blue eyes, hair the color of fresh blood, a noticeable farmer's tan, and a constant sneer on his face. He wore nothing on his chest, only torn jeans and blood red sandals. This one watched the singing girl with an air of distaste and delight.

"That's defiantly her…" he said aloud, yet no one could hear him over the song. "Only the DigiCarnate of that silly singer could sound that good." He glanced around the bar, seeing Takashi, Mac, Alex, and Sammy also present.

"Looks like they're all here…" with that statement, the mystery man pulled a strange device from his pocket. It was shaped like a curved rectangle, a half inch by one inch by three inches, with a big coin slot in the side, and a screen at the top of the front face, with five buttons below it arranged into a pentagon. On top of the device was a tiny access port. The device was black with dark blue grips.

"And all ready for the perfect ambush." With that, he pressed the top button, and the device shot a green laser at the ceiling. Where the beam hit, a swirling vortex opened, revealing what looked like a sea of binary code. Yuna stopped singing and looked up at the vortex in bewilderment, as did Takashi, Mac, Alex, and Sammy, while everyone else didn't seem to take notice of it.

Only seconds after the vortex appeared, a huge lizard like monster crawled out of it, hissing angrily. The other costumers saw this monster crawling on the ceiling, and fled screaming their heads off; leaving Takashi, Mac, Yuna and the mysterious teenager that had summoned it alone in the bar.

"Saurumon is the perfect hunter," the teenager commented about the monster in a voice over. "This Champion level, Virus type Reptile digimon can cut through anything with its Guillotine Claw and Painless End attacks. If these don't kill you its powerful jaws will."

"Attack, Saurumon!" the teenager commanded. "We cannot let them discover their real power!"

"As you wish, my liege," Saurumon responded. He then lunged at the table Takashi and Mac were seated at. "Guillotine Claw!"

Mac dived out of the way just in time, while Takashi ducked under the table, watching the razor sharp claws cut through the wood like a pair of scissors through paper. The two halves of the table fell apart to either side of Takashi, leaving him staring in horrified awe. Saurumon was quick to turn around to face Takashi once more.

"You are remarkably reflexive… for DigiCarnates, of course…" Saurumon commented, venom dripping from his voice. Before Takashi or Mac could wonder what he meant by DigiCarnate, he charged at them once more, anger burning in his eyes. "But let's see if you can repeat that action! Guillotine Claw!"

Mac again rolled out of the way, but Takashi stood there, horrified. Not because of the oversized lizard ready to rip him in half, but from what he saw tied up on its back.

His father and sister, bound and gagged.

"Move!" Yuna shouted at him from the stage, but her warning came too late, as Saurumon charged right past Takashi, leaving a huge cut in his left side. Takashi fell to his knees in pain. As Saurumon came to a stop, he set Frank and Erin on the floor near his master, and looked gleefully at Takashi. The Horiba family watched this in utter horror.

"What's the matter, DigiCarnate?" He asked tauntingly. Mac and Yuna stood away from the confrontation, both deeply concerned for the crumpled heap that was Takashi Horiba. "Can't handle a little cut?"

"Shut up…" Takashi rasped from where he lay. "What do you want from me? Why kidnap my family and bring them here to watch me get beat to a bloody pulp?"

"The more someone suffers, the more fun it is…"

"You… you sick monster…" Takashi's heart burned in anger at Saurumon's statement.

"Takashi!" Mac screamed from where he stood. "Run! You'll die if-"

"No way." Takashi spoke with a fiery resolution in his voice. "No way am I going to let this monster get way with his crimes. No one harms my family-or my friends- and gets away with it." Takashi had a strange sense of déjà vu at that line, as if he had said it before in a past life.

He HAD said it in a past life.

"Suit yourself," Saurumon hissed haughtily. He charged at Takashi, intent on finishing the job. "Guillotine Claw!"

Mac, Yuna, Frank and Erin and screamed in horror as they watched Saurumon charge at the defenseless boy laying crouched on the ground before him. Suddenly, as Saurumon's claw was about to touch Takashi, a wall of fire burst up around him, knocking Saurumon back in surprise.

"What!?"

Inside the firewall, Takashi watched in amazement as the cut on his side sealed right up, as if the fire were healing him. In front of him, a small ball of fire formed, and just as quickly dispersed leaving behind a device greatly similar to the one the teenager had, except this one was white with red grips.

Takashi somehow knew what this was: it was his Digivice. His D-Memory.

It was as if a voice in his head was guiding him. He knew what to do from here.

Getting up on his feet, Takashi held out his D-Memory, and a symbol resembling a gothic image of the sun containing a smaller star appeared on the screen. Takashi held up his left hand, which was then changed into a wire-frame rendition of itself, and slammed it on top of his D-Memory, sending sparks from under his hand.

"**Bravery Resurrection!"** Takashi shouted. **"Sequence: Activate!"**

As Takashi shouted this command, he removed his hand from his Digivice, allowing a torrent of binary code to shoot from the top. The rest of Takashi's skin a clothes broke away from his, revealing a wire-frame below it. The binary code from the D-Memory circled around Takashi, reshaping his body. His hands were shifted into four-fingered dragon claws, and his feet were remade to those of a western dragon. His body became significantly taller, easily twenty feet in height. A large pair of wings grew from his back, and orange scales replaced his skin, a white color at his chest and stomach. His face pulled out into a draconic snout, a bone helmet covering the top half of his face. The creature that had once been Takashi opened his eyes, now with a more draconic pupil, and roared its name in triumph.

"Pyrodramon!"

Digimon Analyzer

Pyrodramon

Level: Champion

Attribute: Data

Type: Dragon Man

Family: Dragon's Roar

Attacks: Burning Spirit, Pyro Dash

Time seemed to slow to a standstill in that moment. Everyone stared at Pyrodramon in amazement and confusion except for Suarumon, who simply looked outraged. Mac's eye was twitching uncontrollably. The only thought in his head was "What the hell happened to Takashi?"

"So…" Saurumon finally broke the tense silence. "It was you who I was going to kill, hmm?"

"It certainly has been a long time… Saurumon," Pyrodramon responded as if he was talking to an old friend.

"Amazing. Here it is, right before my eyes, and I still find it hard to imagine that it was even possible for Digimon to be reborn as humans… but regardless, this time I will not be the one to taste defeat!"

"I don't think so!" With this, both Digimon charged at each other, the rage evident in their faces.

"Painless End!"

"Pyro Dash!"

The two attacks collided in the middle of the room, sending up a huge screen of smoke. The spectators had to cough a few times to get their lungs cleared. As the smoke finally cleared, they could make out Saurumon and Pyrodramon, both with their backs to each other. Then, Saurumon coughed up a large blot of data, and collapsed, dissolving into bits of binary data and disappearing.

"And thus, does history repeat itself," Pyrodramon managed to comment, before he to gasped for breath and collapsed on the floor, reverting back to Takashi seconds later in a spiral of data.

"Takashi!" Mac screamed out, running to his friend's side. "Takashi! Speak to me!"

Takashi let out a labored breath, slowly opening his eyes to see Mac staring at him in concern.

"Hey… what happened? Where's that lizard thing?"

"You mean you don't remember?" Mac asked him in bewilderment.

As this was going on, the mysterious teenager from before slipped quietly into the shadows, vanishing from sight.

"So one DigiCarnate awakens his past," he breathed out. "But next time, only one of us will die."

* * *

**Who is this mysterious man? And what does he want with Takashi and the others? Find out next time on Digimon: Digital Monsters!**

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**Please review.**


	2. Eye of the Kibamon

**Here we have the second chapter to Digimon Legacy. Enjoy!**

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_Digimon Legacy_

_Episode 2_

**Eye of the Kibamon**

* * *

"_It's the Eye of the Tiger_

_It's the thrill of the fight_

_Rising up to the challenge of our rival_

_And the last known survivor stalks his prey in the night_

_And he's watching us all with the EYE of the Tiger!"_

Mac stood on the stage of the karaoke bar, performing the great Survivor hit, but Takashi wasn't paying attention. His mind was on what had happened yesterday.

The lizard thing that attacked him… Saurumon… he had met him before in a past life. A past life he had spent as a digital monster.

Takashi still couldn't wrap his head around the idea… but it did explain his pyrokinesis.

Almost unconsciously, Takashi removed his D-Memory from his pocket and held it up, examining it. The symbol that had appeared on the screen when he resurrected- his Mark of Bravery-was stamped on the back of the digivice.

"Bravery, huh?" Takashi whispered to himself. He chuckled humorlessly. He didn't exactly view himself as brave. Heck, he didn't view himself as anything impressive… granted, being this "DigiCarnate" thing was reasonably impressive, but still.

Takashi looked up at Mac as he was thinking. How did Mac feel about this? About Takashi's… legacy. Mac had finished singing at this point in time, and moved to sit next to Takashi at the table. Takashi glanced sidelong at Mac, not making eye contact with him.

"Hey… Mac?" Takashi started hesitantly. Mac turned to look at him questioningly. "How exactly do you feel about my… heritage?"

"What do you mean?" Mac asked.

"Being DigiCarnate. What's your opinion?"

"My opinion on being a freak?"

"A freak? You actually think I'm a freak?"

"What? No, all I meant was-"

"I know exactly what you meant. I know when I'm not wanted." With that, Takashi stood up, and made for the door, not bothering to look at Mac.

"Takashi, wait, I-"

"Just go away!" Mac stood there, staring at his friend in shock. Takashi glared at him over his shoulder. "I can't believe I actually thought a phony like you could ever want to be my friend." Mac could only stand there and watch Takashi storm out of the bar. He numbly sat back down and slammed his head on the table.

"Good one, Makoto. You pushed away the only friend you'll ever have," he berated himself under his breath.

The truth was Mac was jealous of Takashi. He wished that he could transform into a powerful being like Takashi could. He wanted to be a freak… well, more of a freak, in all honesty.

If it meant he would be closer to the friends he did have- which was sadly limited to Takashi.

Mac wasn't exactly a people person. He found that tuning in to people's thoughts gave him a sense of violation, as if he were prying into their personal space. He had promised Takashi he wouldn't do that to him, but… sometimes it was unavoidable.

Like the time they first met, the day after Takashi's mother had died…

* * *

_Mac's Flashback_

_Mac was just walking through the park, lost in his own thoughts when he heard someone crying nearby. He turned his head to see a nine-year old boy huddled under a tree on the shore of a small lake. He looked into the boy's thoughts, seeing that his mother had died in a terrible fire yesterday. Feeling sorry for the boy, Mac walked over to him._

"_Hey…" Mac started, "Is something wrong?" He didn't want the boy to know about his telepathy, for fear of his reaction._

"_Go away," the boy sobbed. "I want to be alone,"_

"_If there's something on your chest, then-"_

"_I SAID GO AWAY!" as the boy screamed this, a large flame flared up in front of Mac, startling him, and causing him to fall flat on his back. He looked back up as the fire died down, seeing the boy sobbing even harder._

"_It's my fault…" he choked out through his sobs, his face red from his crying. "It's my entire fault…"_

"_You mean… your mother?" Mac asked. The boy turned to look at him in surprise. Mac could now see the entire scenario as it had unfolded; the boy had accidentally set the curtains in the living room of his house on fire, and only his mother failed to make it out in time._

"_How did you…?" Mac simply pointed at his head._

"_I read it in here," was all Mac said in answer to the boy's unfinished question. "You shouldn't blame yourself for things that are beyond your control."_

"_Why… why are you…?"_

_Mac held out his hand. "Because I like you." He responded. "Besides, we freaks have to stick together."_

_The boy slowly and hesitantly moved his hand, and took Mac's offered one, finally smiling as he did._

"_I'm Makoto. Makoto Inumoto."_

"_Takashi Horiba. It's nice to meet you… Mac."_

_Mac chuckled at this nickname. He certainly did like it. Takashi joined in, and soon enough the two friends were laughing their heads off._

_End Flashback_

* * *

Mac slowly lifted his head from the table, sighing heavily as he remembered the good old days.

"I have to go apologize to Takashi," he decided. He instantly got up out of his seat, and went out to tell Takashi he was sorry… and he knew exactly where Takashi would be.

* * *

Over at the park, on the shore of that small lake, Takashi sat under the same tree he had met Mac under. His face has a mask of regret.

"Maybe I was a little rough on him…" Takashi conceded. "He is in the same boat as me, after all…"

"Shame that boat is about to sink."

Takashi started at the unfamiliar voice. He turned to see a seventeen year old boy-the same one who commanded Saurumon the day before.

"You… You're the one who sic'd Saurumon on me and Mac."

"Nice to see you remember me," the teenager responded. "My name's Nathan. Nathan Jel, and don't you forget it."

"Why would I bother remembering it? You're going to kill me anyway," Takashi remarked hotly.

"Touché."

"What do you want from me?" Takashi had to ask. "What did I do to you, in either of my lives?"

"Nothing you remember yet…" Nathan answered cryptically. "You've only unlocked the memories from when you were a Champion level, and you and I fought as Megas, so… yeah. Anyway, I'm not about to let you get that far," Nathan then held up his D-Memory and pointed it at the lake. "And Seadramon does love barbeque." With that, Nathan pressed the top button on his D-Memory, opening a Digital Portal in the lake. From the portal emerged a huge, serpentine creature with a plate of yellow armor covering half its head, and red, leaf-like tail, and greenish-blue scales over the rest of its body.

"Have fun, Seadramon," Nathan commanded as he sat at the top of the tree to watch this battle unfold.

"Ice Blast!" Seadramon immediately fired a beam of ice at Takashi, which he avoided just in time.

"Don't you know that fire always beats ice?" Takashi laughed at Seadramon. Pulling out his D-Memory, and having the same Mark of Bravery appear on the screen, Takashi changed his hand to a wire frame, and slammed it onto the device.

"**Bravery Resurrection! Sequence: Activate!"** Takashi lifted his hand from his D-Memory, allowing the binary code to burst forth, the remainder of his skin and clothes breaking away to the wire frame underneath, and the code reshaping him into the benevolent Pyrodramon once more. "Pyrodramon!"

Pyrodramon quickly took to the skies, launching his own attack at the aquatic digimon.

"Burning Spirit!" From the tips of Pyrodramon's mighty wings, several jets of fire shot at Seadramon, burning its scales on contact. However, Seadramon was otherwise unharmed, its moist scales softening the blow. Pyrodramon noticed this unfortunate development in concern.

"That's not good." He murmured. He was still out of it when Seadramon attack again.

"Ice Blast!" Seadramon again fired the beam of ice at Pyrodramon, but Pyrodramon didn't dodge in time, and the beam hit his right wing. Screaming at the cold touch, he fell to the ground with a thud. Pyrodramon slowly got up on his hands and knees, careful of his frozen wing.

That was about the time that Mac reached the park, and saw the battle in progress. He gasped when he saw Pyrodramon in this state.

"What… what happened?" he asked in fear. However, he saw Seadramon preparing the final blow, ready to finish his friend off. Without even thinking, Mac ran forward towards the battle.

"Ice Blast!" Seadramon fired at the immobilized dragon, ready to freeze him solid. Before the beam hit, however, Mac leaped into its path, taking the blow instead.

Pyrodramon looked on in stupefied amazement. Mac sacrificed himself for his safety, even after those things Takashi had said… Mac still saw him as his friend? Takashi now felt truly guilty about what he said. Now Mac would never be able to hear him say he was sorry.

But Mac wasn't frozen.

A ball of light appeared in front of Mac just as the beam was about to hit him. Nathan stared at this in amazement and outrage. The beam desisted, and the ball faded away, leaving behind a white D-Memory with aqua grips. On the back was a symbol of a cross circled by four shooting stars. Mac smirked as the device landed in his hand.

"Now we're talking," he commented. He held the Digivice out, and the mark appeared on the screen. Mac snapped the fingers of his left hand, causing it to become wire frame, and then slammed his hand on top of his D-Memory.

"**Loyalty Resurrection! Sequence: Activate!"** With this command, Mac removed his hand from his D-Memory, allowing the stream of data to shoot out, and the rest of his skin and clothes to give way to wire frame. The stream of data did its work on Mac's body, changing it into that of a large, wolf-like animal. It had glistening white fur covering its entire body, sharp claws on all four of its paws, and a long tail ending in a fang-like shape. On its face, its long snout ended in a black nose, a pair of foot long fangs poking out from under its jowls. Mac's digimon form opened its eyes, still the same golden color, and roared out its name, howling in glory.

"Kibamon!"

Digimon Analyzer

Kibamon

Level: Champion

Attribute: Data

Type: Mammal

Family: Nature Spirits

Attacks: Howling Shotgun, Saber Fang, Kiba Claws

Pyrodramon looked on in awe. Mac's digimon form was so majestic… so fearsome, yet at the same time gentle and kind of heart. Much like Mac as a human. Seadramon looked at this new development in revulsion.

"Pest. Ice Blast!"

"Howling Shotgun!"

Both Digimon fired their attacks at the same time, Seadramon unleashing its ice beam and Kibamon launching a huge ball of light from his mouth. The two attacks met at the midpoint of the line between the two fighters. At first, things seemed dead even, but then Kibamon's attack started pushing the ice beam back, Seadramon's face widening in fear.

"Sayonara, sucker!" Kibamon exclaimed at his attack plowed right into Seadramon, destroying it instantly. Nathan watched Seadramon's data fly away, annoyance evident on his face.

"I believe it's time for a change of tactics," he commented to himself before melting into the shadows.

As the sun was setting, Mac and Takashi, both back to human forms, stood facing each other on the shore of the lake.

"Takashi… I'm sorry," Mac spoke almost too softly for Takashi to hear. "I didn't mean to hurt your feelings, I-"

"No, I'm the one who should be apologizing," Takashi interrupted him. "I was so caught up in my own problems; I forgot that you had the same issues." Takashi held his hand out to Mac, who only stared at him in confusion. "After all, 'We freaks have to stick together', right?"

Mac smiled at these words… the same words he had said to Takashi four years ago.

"That we do," Mac responded, taking Takashi's hand in earnest.

* * *

**It's a good thing Mac and Takashi mended that bridge, but is Nathan's new plan? And just who is this guy? Keep watching Digimon: Digital Monsters!**

* * *

**That's it for this chapter. Please review.**


	3. Divamon Takes the Stage

**Enjoy this new chapter!**

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_Digimon Legacy_

_Episode 3_

**Divamon Takes the Stage**

In a dark alleyway somewhere in Ikebukuro, Nathan was watching images of Pyrodramon and Kibamon playing in a dark mist in front of him. He growled in frustration.

"Those two have twice managed to defeat the corrupt Digimon I threw at them!" He yelled in outrage. "I clearly can't send anything that would defeat them! Not yet, anyway…" he started to calm down. "The girl, however…" here, the image in the mist changed to show Yuna. "She might be a little easier to eliminate… as well as the other two who have yet to even discover their legacy." Images of Alex and Sammy also appeared in the mist.

"They will make the perfect targets…" Nathan dispersed the mist in front of him, and pulled out his D-Memory. Before he could use it, however, a gruff voice called out behind him.

"Hey, whachu doin' here, punk?" Nathan looked over his shoulder to see several drunken gangsters glaring at him. "Dis is our joint. Get out or we'll escort you out," the leader attempted to threaten him. Nathan sighed in annoyance, but then smiled evilly as he pulled a medallion from his other pocket, which had words ringing the edge, a strange, indescribable symbol in the center, and the planetary symbol for Mercury at the top.

"If you really wish to die…" Nathan said, before he flipped the medallion into the air, and then caught it in his left hand, which changed into black wire frame, and then slammed the medallion into the coin slot of his D-Memory. **"Grand Envy Resurrection! Sequence: Activate!"**

Only screams of horror could be heard from the alleyway that night, after which the drunks were never heard from again. Nathan had never enjoyed a better meal.

* * *

"**Burning Spirit!"**

"**Howling Shotgun!"**

Erin watched the ongoing spar in boredom, and absolute apathy. All of her friends were busy today, so she got stuck with watching her freaky brother and his equally freaky friend spar each other in Digimon form to prepare themselves for future battles. Erin thought their idea of training left a lot to be desired.

Both Pyrodramon and Kibamon were panting heavily, which didn't surprise Erin that much. They had been going at it for three hours.

"That's it… I'm beat," Kibamon managed to say before reverting back to Mac, Pyrodramon reverting to Takashi at the same time. Even their human forms looked winded.

"Yeah…" Takashi huffed. "I think that's enough for today."

"About time you two wrapped it up," Erin chastised them, bored beyond all rationality. "I thought you would be at it all day!" Takashi glared at his eleven year-old sister in annoyance. "Maybe some my friends had worked up some free time by now." As she said this, she pulled out her cell phone while walking away. The first number on her contact list was Yuna Hikarine… her brother's secret crush. Erin knew Yuna felt the same way about Takashi, but she'd never tell either of them the feeling was mutual.

Yuna, predictably, answered on the first ring. "Hello, Erin?"

"Hey, Yuna… I was wondering… did you manage to work out some free time in your schedule?"

"Actually, I still have to do some grocery shopping for my mother, but you can come with me if you want," Yuna offered.

Erin shrugged. "It's better than watching Takashi and Mac spar."

"Alright then, I'll meet you at the entrance of the local Target location."

"See you then." With that, Erin hung up, and made her way to the Target grocery store. However, she just couldn't shake the feeling that something bad was going to happen… Probably just paranoia.

* * *

Yuna stood at the entrance to the store, waiting patiently for her younger friend… the younger sister of her secret crush. Yuna had a slight crush on Takashi ever since she first saw him at the karaoke bar. And then she had heard him perform that Owl City song… what was it called, "Fireflies"?... and she just knew that he was the one for her.

And then… there was that incident a week ago…

* * *

_Yuna's Flashback_

"_No way." Takashi spoke with a fiery resolution in his voice. "No way am I going to let this monster get away with his crimes. No one harms my family-or my friends- and gets away with it."_

_End Flashback_

* * *

He had been so brave in that moment… so selfless… Yuna was extremely turned on by his resolve. She wondered what it was like to be that passionate about the safety of those you care about…

"Yuna!" Erin's call rudely dragged her out of her thoughts. She looked up to see the younger girl running towards the store, and over to her. "Hey, Yuna, what were you thinking about just now?"

"Oh… uh, nothing." Yuna chuckled nervously. Erin raised an eyebrow at her, but decided to drop the subject. The two girls then walked into the store, not noticing the monster watching from the rooftop.

This creature resembled a cross between a tall black demon and a zombie. There were several holes in his skin, and his left eye was hanging out of its socket, dangling by a fleshy cord. He carried a pitchfork in his right hand (his entire left arm was missing), and the right horn on his head was broken. A pair of skeletal wings grew from his back. The creature sneered in delight.

_Digimon Analyzer_

NecroDevimon

Level: Champion

Attribute: Virus

Type: Undead, Demon

Family: Nightmare Soldiers

Attacks: Demon Stab, Decaying Curse

Inside the store, Erin and Yuna were browsing the dry food asile, minding their own business, when they spotted a group of thugs picking on a little kid. Yuna glared at the thugs in distaste.

"Come on…" the boy sniveled in fright. "Why are you picking on me?"

"Because you're American, dummy," the tallest thug stated. "American losers are all massive bums with absolutely no thoughts going through their heads… nothing but idiots." Yuna then snapped.

"WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU NUMBSKULLS TALKING ABOUT!?" Yuna screamed in outrage, forcing Erin to cover her ears and drawing the attention of the other shoppers. "You bunch are the real idiots! Believing some harebrained stereotype is the stupidest and most evil action any human being can perform! You have absolutely no right to pick on a little kid just because of his nationality!"

"But he's-"

"Don't even say it!" Yuna cut him off. "Are any of you even listening to me!? I will have you know that there is absolutely no excuse for…"

* * *

**Three hours later**

* * *

"… and that is precisely why stereotyping should be considered the eighth deadly sin! You got that!?" The gangsters were all trembling in fear, the little American boy they were picking on having abandoned the scene long ago. They nodded their heads too vigorously. "Good. NOW GET OUT OF MY FACE!" The punks didn't need to be told twice, and sped out of the store like cartoon characters. Erin sighed in exasperation. She was so sick and tired of listening to Yuna's "Stereotypes are evil" rant. Yuna can be a sweet and caring young woman… but start stereotyping someone and she goes ballistic.

"Are you done yet?" Erin asked in annoyance.

"Yeah, I'm done," Yuna said sweetly, recovering almost too quickly from her episode.

"Good. Now how about we-" Erin didn't finish her sentence. She noticed a huge shadow on the ground in front of her. She and Yuna looked up at the same time to see NecroDevimon hanging onto the overhead lights. He grinned evilly at them.

"Decaying Curse!" NecroDevimon exhaled an acid green mist into the store. Yuna immediately covered her mouth and nose, but Erin was too slow to react and breathed in a little of the mist. Yuna watched in unspeakable horror as she watched Erin and all of the shoppers and store employees were transformed by the mist into zombies. NecroDevimon floated down to the floor in front of Yuna.

"Rise up, my minions!" he commanded the zombies. "Get that girl!" All at once, the zombies began to advance on Yuna. Acting fast, Yuna brought down one of the shelves, putting a shallow barrier between her and the zombies; shallow enough for the zombies to climb over it, but Yuna was already running. Yuna ran as fast as she could, but there were zombies all over the store. Yuna had very little room to maneuver around.

"_This isn't good…"_ Yuna thought as she ran. _"They're everywhere. I can't fight back against these people, they were all human once. Maybe… if I destroy that demon thing… they'll all go back to normal!" _She looked up to see NecroDevimon hovering above the crowd, watching Yuna run with a gleeful look on his face.

"Oh… How I love it when they run…" he moaned in happiness. "Maybe I should take part in the fun. Demon Stab!" With that, he threw his pitchfork at Yuna, but she jumped out of the way. NecroDevimon swooped down, grabbed his pitchfork, and threw it at Yuna again, only for her to dodge again.

By now the chase had led Yuna, NecroDevimon, and his zombie army to the electronics section. Yuna backed up against a wall of speakers as the Zombies slowly advanced on her, Erin visible in the front of the crowd. NecroDevimon laughed at Yuna's hopeless expression.

"Oh, this is just too good!" he squealed in delight. "Nathan was right! You are such an easy target!"

"Nathan?" Yuna asked him. NecroDevimon clammed up immediately, realizing he just told Yuna the identity of his boss.

"Oops, guess I let it slip. Oh well, she's going to die anyway."

Yuna stared at the zombie crowd in front of her… specifically at Erin.

"Erin… Please… don't do this…" the zombie ignored her, continuing to advance. "Please…"

The zombies were almost upon her now, reaching out their rotting hands to grab Yuna. She closed her eyes in anticipation.

"_Is this… really how it ends?" _She asked in her head. _"These zombies tear me limb from limb and devour my flesh? And Erin… No… I can't let it end like this. I have to save Erin… I will not let that demon get the better of me."_

"I won't give up!" she screamed out loud with a passion in her voice. All at once, the speakers behind her blared to live, and sent a massive shockwave that pushed the zombies back and surprised NecroDevimon. Yuna, just as shocked, looked at the speakers behind her quizzically. They weren't even plugged in.

Before she could question this turn of events further, the speakers started up again, much softer this time. Visible bars of music drifted from the speakers and gathered into a small ball in front of Yuna. Almost as quickly as it had formed, it dispersed, leaving behind a light blue D-Memory with pink grips. On the back of the device, there was the image of a heart coated in flames.

Yuna looked up at NecroDevimon in smug satisfaction. "Guess I'm not as easy as you thought, hmm?" With that said, Yuna held out her D-Memory, allowing the mark to appear on the screen, and ran her left hand through her hair, causing her hand to break apart into a wire frame, and then slammed her hand on top of the device.

"**Passion Resurrection! Sequence: Activate!"** Yuna just as quickly removed her hand from the D-Memory, allowing a stream of data to burst forth, the remainder of her skin and clothes to peel away to wire frame. Yuna's hair braid came undone, allowing her hair to billow out behind her. The data stream circled Yuna's torso, forming a grey sleeveless school girl outfit with an aqua tie and slightly darker blue miniskirt. She crossed her arms as the data created a pair of golden bangles on her arms, one of which depicted a small red dragon wearing headphones and wielding a microphone. Her nails had turned aqua and bars like those of a synthesizer program were visible on her forearms. Her upper left arm was tattooed with the code "L-04" in bright red. As the data streamed encircled her legs, it formed a pair of knee high, skin-tight boots with the same bars on the sides of each. Yuna's hair turned an aqua color and did itself into a pair of long pigtails with square hairbands holding them in place. The kanji "hikari" appeared on Yuna's forehead as a red tattoo, and a final wisp of data ran over her mouth, applying blue lip gloss to her. The new figure opened her sterling blue eyes, grabbed a small microphone from seemingly nowhere, and exclaimed her name while striking a fancy pose, the bars on her body rising and falling in tandem with her voice.

"Divamon!"

_Digimon Analyzer_

Divamon Star Mode

Level: Champion

Attribute: Vaccine

Type: Humanoid, Android

Family: Metal Empire, Virus Busters

Attacks: Sonic Blaster, Concert of Justice, Healing Light

NecroDevimon stared at the new Digimon in amazement, fury… and strangely enough, lust. He had never, in his entire afterlife, seen anything so beautiful. Divamon looked herself over in equal awe.

"Wow…" she breathed out. "This… feels incredible… yet… it feels right to me…"

"An interesting turn of events…" NecroDevimon's words rudely pulled Divamon out of her thoughts. "But you still have to deal with me, hotty. Demon Stab!" NecroDevimon then threw his pitchfork at Divamon, but she easily jumped out of the way and on top of the speaker behind her.

"Sorry, fleshy… But I think I should even the odds a little." Divamon stated before she raised her arms above her. "Healing Light…" From her outstretched palms, a small, but luminous ball of light formed and glowed with the intensity of the sun. As its rays touched each of the zombies, NecroDevimon's curse was broken, and they returned to normal, passing out immediately afterwards. NecroDevimon looked on in outrage.

"Oh… now you're in for it. Demon Stab!"

"Sonic Blaster!" Divamon screamed into her microphone, sending a blast of energy from her opposite hand. The blast obliterated NecroDevimon's pitchfork on contact.

"W-wait! Stop! Noooooo!" NecroDevimon screamed as the energy reached him, destroying him and causing him to break apart into pieces of data. Divamon looked on in peaceful satisfaction, reverting back to Yuna as she did so. She looked down at Erin's unconscious form in sorrow.

"I'm so sorry, Erin…" Yuna said to her sadly. "I'm sorry for getting you dragged into this mess. But… if Takashi ever asks what happened here… please… Just tell him a passionate diva saved everyone, and will be more than willing to join him in battle, okay?" Yuna wasn't sure Erin heard any of this, but felt satisfied to have gotten it off her chest. She turned towards the doors and confidently strode out of the supermarket into the setting sun.

* * *

**Thank goodness Yuna got out of that alive, but what will happen to Alex and Sammy? To find out, keep watching Digimon: Digital Monsters!**

* * *

**Please Review.**


	4. The Soldier of Gratitude

_Digimon Legacy_

_Episode 4_

**The Solider of Gratitude**

* * *

Somewhere in the Digital World, there was a massive shrine illuminated only by a few torches placed at regular intervals along the walls and several glowing orbs of different colors placed in pedestals circling a tiny alter, which was surrounded by a barrier of code. Six medallions of various colors of the rainbow, with the exception of blue, floated around above the alter, as if begging someone, anyone, to let them out. Nathan walked up to the center of the shrine, staring at the medallions in pity.

"Still not enough energy…" he spoke to himself. "I need more Data Cores to reveal the lock…" The medallions in the barrier began behaving erratically, practically bouncing around the alter. "Have patience, my brothers… we'll have our revenge soon enough… wouldn't you like that… Lucemon?"

The red medallion glowed approvingly.

"Those five should have Cores strong enough to reveal the lock on this barrier… and one of them is even part of the key to that lock… I can kill two birds with one stone." With this established, Nathan proceeded to laugh evilly, never noticing that he was being watched, nor did he see this figure run out of the shrine in a hurry.

* * *

Meanwhile, in the Real World, Sammy was just starting to wake up. As usual, his parents had left early for work… meaning Sammy had to fend for himself for breakfast… again.

That was Sammy's life. His parents were almost never home, his eighteen year old sister was attending college in the United States, and he pretty much had to learn how to take care of himself at an early age. As a result, he was pretty mature for his age, though he still had a touch of innocence to him.

As Sammy was getting dressed, just pulling up his jean shorts, the computer in his room suddenly switched on by itself, confusing the young boy. As looked at the desktop, the monitor suddenly began emitting a huge, bright light, and a small red frog-like creature was shot out of it. Sammy caught the animal in his arms before it could hit the ground. The poor guy looked beat up to Sammy.

"Hey… Are you alright?" Sammy asked the small creature. He moaned softly before answering.

"Yeah… I'll live." Sammy didn't exactly believe the animal, but decided not to pester it.

"Well… My name's Sammy. Sammy Kitsune."

"I-I'm… Elecmon…"

"Here… you should rest up a little… regain some strength," Sammy stated as he gently set Elecmon onto the bed. The small creature looked up at him in depression.

"Why… are you helping me?" Elecmon asked, almost choking out the words.

"Because it's the right thing to do," Sammy answered the small Rookie with conviction. This wasn't the whole answer, however. Sammy could sense Elecmon's power… and it was nearly depleted. As he watched Elecmon pass out from his exhaustion, Sammy thought about the energy he sensed from the small digimon…

It was similar to the energy he sensed from some humans.

* * *

Later that day, at the karaoke bar, Sammy was simply watching several people perform with Elecmon hidden in his duffle bag. At a different table, Takashi, Mac, and Yuna sat together, with Yuna telling the two boys about her zombie attack episode. Just next to them, Alex sat at a table alone, looking over his shoulder at the group of three… specifically at the hot guy with the white hair.

Sammy looked over at the four young teenagers… He could feel a certain energy radiating from them: the same energy he felt from Elecmon earlier that same day.

There must have been something about them… but what exactly that was, he couldn't be sure.

"Is something wrong, Sammy?" Elecmon asked, noticing Sammy's expression. Fortunately, only Sammy heard him over the music.

"It's nothing, Elecmon…" Sammy started. "The thing is… I feel some weird energy from those four… it's somewhat like what I sensed from you…"

"Huh!? You mean… you felt the energy from my Data Core!?" Elecmon asked in shock. Sammy only stared at Elecmon quizzically.

"I think so… what's a 'Data Core'?"

"Well, it's…" In all honesty, Elecmon had absolutely no idea how to put the answer to Sammy's question into words. "Uh… a Data Core is… I guess in all practicality, a Data Core is a digimon's heart. It serves to circulate a digimon's life energy, like how a human heart pumps blood throughout the body."

"Okay… but, if a Data Core is a digimon's heart, then why can I sense the energy from humans?"

"That shouldn't be possible… not normally."

Sammy stared the Rookie digimon up and down, waiting for some form of clarification to his last statement.

"Well, there is a rumor that under the right circumstances a digimon can be reborn as a human being. When that happens, that digimon's Data Core will be carried over as a crucial piece of the new human heart. However, the heart will need that Data Core to function properly. If the Core is somehow removed…"

"…the reborn human will die," Sammy finished Elecmon's explanation.

"Exactly."

Sammy stared at the four people, lost in his own thoughts. They had to be digimon reborn as humans… same as Sammy himself. That's the only way Sammy would be able to sense a Data Core's energy from each of them… and also the only way Sammy would be able to sense the energy at all.

Sammy's thoughts were interrupted when he felt something: the presence of another Data Core… and this one didn't feel very friendly.

* * *

Just outside the bar, a huge green dragon creature hovered in front of the bar, grinning evilly. It was a Virus type Coredramon, and he had his sights set on little Sammy.

* * *

Back inside, Sammy acted quickly and pulled a nearby fire alarm. As soon as the sirens sounded, all of the costumers, except Takashi, Mac, Yuna, Alex, Sammy and Elecmon began filing out of the building, several of them noting the lack of a visible fire.

"Hey, what is-" Takashi began questioning, but he received his answer before he could close his mouth.

"G-Shurunen Mk. II!" Coredramon exclaimed as he fired a big red laser from his mouth at the roof of the bar, causing it to collapse into the building. By some miracle, the five DigiCarnate and one Digimon managed to get outside before the building caved in. As Coredramon looked down at the gathering of humans he laughed haughtily. "Hello, little guy," he growled, drawing everyone's attention to Sammy. "You have something my master is in dire need of. Surrender your Data Core to me, and no one will get hurt." Sammy stepped away from the green dragon, and Takashi, Mac and Yuna all put themselves in between the two.

"You want this little boy?" Takashi asked threateningly.

"Then you'll have to go through us!" Yuna finished. At her word, the three of them held out their D-Memories, allowing their respective Marks to appear on the screen. Takashi held his left hand out, Mac snapped the fingers on the same hand, and Yuna ran her hand through her hair, resulting in all three of their hands to break apart to wire frame. They then each slammed their hands onto their D-Memories.

"**Bravery/Loyalty/Passion Resurrection! Sequence: Activate!" **They all shouted at the same time, during which they removed their hands from their digivices, allowing the torrent of data to flow forth, and the rest of their skin and clothes broke away to wire frame. As before, the data circled their bodies, reshaping them to their respective digimon forms.

"Pyrodramon!"

"Kibamon!"

"Divamon!"

Alex simply stood there in the background, staring at Kibamon in admiration and love. Sammy looked on, equally surprised, but at the same time, satisfied that his theory was right. Coredramon, however, was unimpressed by the three champions that now stood in front of him.

"So three out of all five of you resurrected. Big whoop," Coredramon drawled out. "I'm still too strong for you!"

"We'll see about that!" Pyrodramon shouted, leaping up to the same altitude as the green dragon.

"Pyro Dash!" He then sped towards the green dragon engulfed in a fiery aura, but the Virus digimon was able to dodge it, smirking at the fire dragon the entire time.

"You fell for it!" Kibamon exclaimed, causing Coredramon to turn, seeing the wolf digimon rushing towards him with Divamon balancing on the wolf's back, her microphone held in front of her. "Kiba Claw!"

"Sonic Blaster!"

Kibamon slashed the claws on his forepaws at empty air in front of him, sending blade-like energy waves at the airborne dragon. With the blast from Divamon's attack mixed in, it would have hurt a lot. Unfortunately, Coredramon used his wings to block the attacks, minimizing the damage.

"Shoot!" Divamon exclaimed, snapping her fingers in disappointment. "His wings are coated with Chrome Digizoid. Nothing in our arsenal can penetrate it."

"Good observation," Coredramon complimented her emptily. "Now, it is time for me to finish you three off!"

"Oh no!" Elecmon shouted from his position at Sammy's side. "I have to do something!" With this, he rushed off to the field of battle before Sammy could do anything to stop him.

"Green Flare Breath!" Coredramon exclaimed, exhaling green fire at the three DigiCarnates in front of him. As it was about to hit, they all leaped out of the way, causing the flames to strike at nothing.

"Super Thunder Strike!" Elecmon then leaped out of the smoke, launching a small lightning blast at the green dragon, but again, Coredramon's wings minimized the damage. Sammy just looked on in guilt.

"_Elecmon… he's doing this just to protect me…"_ He thought in despair.

"Foolish child!" Coredramon shouted at the red Rookie. "Did you really think you could stand a chance against me!?"

"Yes…" Elecmon answered cryptically. "I still have one trick up my sleeve." As he said that, his chest suddenly started to glow a bright red. Elecmon leaped a good five feet into the air as data began to flow from his chest.

"Elecmon digivolve to…" Elecmon was soon encased in a cocoon of data, swirling around his body, reshaping it for the next level. After only thirty seconds, the cocoon broke apart to reveal an anthropomorphic lion wearing black pants and a small sword at the back of his waist. "…Leomon!"

Sammy stared at Leomon in awe. He looked at the ongoing fight in dismay. Coredramon and the three DigiCarnates were just as shocked, surprised that Elecmon had the power to Digivolve. Alex just looked on, still completely clueless to everything except the majestic wolf with extra-long fangs.

Leomon wasted no time in leaping towards the green dragon, bringing back his left hand as he did so.

"Fist of the Beast King!" Leomon then threw his fist forward, launching a massive fireball at Coredramon, but like the last two times, his wings stopped the attack short.

"_This is getting us nowhere…"_ Sammy thought from his position on the sidelines. _"There's no getting past those Chrome Digizoid wings… and those three… and Leomon… they're all trying so hard to defeat that monster… to protect me… I can't just stand here doing nothing. I'm grateful for all of them, and that's why I have to help them. There has to be something I can do!"_ A green light suddenly started glowing from Sammy's chest. As Leomon continued flying towards the green dragon, he saw the light from the corner of his eye.

"_So he really is one of them… a DigiCarnate…"_ he thought briefly, but Coredramon then prepared to swipe at Leomon with his claws. However, Leomon maneuvered himself on top of Coredramon's arm, and then used it as leverage to leap higher and over the green dragon. As he did this, he reached into his pocket and pulled out a green D-Memory with white grips.

"Sammy!" he shouted as he threw the device at the small boy. Sammy caught it in his hands, with the back facing him. The symbol on it was a maple leaf with a single drop of water running down the center. Sammy looked up to see Coredramon slam his tail into Leomon, knocking him into a nearby tree, and causing him to dedigivolve back to Elecmon. Sammy then shifted his attention back to Coredramon, who simply looked on in boredom.

"My turn!" Sammy shouted before he held his D-Memory out, the mark appearing on the screen as he did so. Sammy then raised his left hand into the air, turning it as it was transformed into a wire frame. He then lowered his hand to chest level, and slammed the top of his D-Memory into his open palm.

"**Gratitude Resurrection! Sequence: Activate!"** With this command, Sammy removed his hand from the digivice, allowing the stream of data to explode from it, and the rest of his skin and clothes peeled away to reveal the wire frame underneath. The data reshaped Sammy's body, making it about as tall as an adult man. He was wearing a long sleeved green tunic underneath an armored vest, with steel gloves and protected leggings. His feet were only decorated with sandals. On his head, he had on a samurai helmet that hid most of his face from view, with the exception of his eyes. A massive katana hung from his back. This new warrior opened his brown eyes, grabbed his katana with a single hand, gracefully twirled it in front of him, before slamming it point first into the ground in front of him, shouting his name in a tone of glory.

"Senshimon!"

_Digimon Analyzer_

Senshimon

Level: Champion

Attribute: Vaccine

Type: Knight

Family: Nature Spirits

Attacks: Shogun's Blade, Warrior's Honor, Blood fest

Coredramon was not that impressed with the solider that now stared him down. The other DigiCarnates, however, were in awe. Senshimon simply stood where he was, waiting for the right moment to strike.

"You have been judged to have an evil spirit," Senshimon eventually said in a monotone voice. "Thus, you have been sentenced to execution."

"Oh, please!" Coredramon exclaimed haughtily. "No one can possibly execute me! G-Shurunen Mk. II!"

Coredramon fired his laser at Senshimon, appearing to hit him dead on. Coredramon smirked in satisfaction until he noticed the warrior standing a few feet to the left of the impact site, having dodged the laser at the last possible second.

"Guess I'm nobody, then," Senshimon joked before he leaped at the green dragon, his katana glowing with energy. "Shogun's Blade!"

Once again, Coredramon folded his wings in front of him to use as a shield. But to his dismay, instead of stopping at the steel coated wings, Senshimon's katana, forged from pure Chrome Digizoid, sliced cleanly through the wings like a knife through butter. Coredramon roared in pain, falling to the ground because of his clipped wings. Pyrodramon leaped at the chance to end the battle.

"Everyone! Attack now! Burning Spirit!"

"Howling Shotgun!"

"Sonic Blaster!"

The three champions each fired their attacks at the grounded dragon, Senshimon leaping over head with his katana pointed downward. Coredramon noticed this as the attacks of the other DigiCarnates left him battered and weary.

"W-w-wait! Please, stop!" he begged, but Senshimon ignored him.

"Shogun's Blade!" the katana glowed with energy as it was driven through Coredramon's chest. The dragon screamed in anguish, dispersing into data seconds later. "Good bye, bastard," Senshimon stated under his breath before he collapsed to his hands and knees in exhaustion, reverting back to Sammy soon after. The other DigiCarnates changed back to human form as well. Takashi rushed to Sammy's side as the younger boy breathed heavily.

"Hey, are you okay?" Takashi asked in concern.

"I'll be fine…" Sammy breathed out. "What… about Elecmon?"

The small rookie limped over to Sammy, battered and weak from the impact with the tree.

"Don't worry about me, Sammy…" Elecmon breathed out, but Sammy shut him up, placing a hand on his head.

"Thank you… for everything, Elecmon," Sammy told the Rookie level digimon. Elecmon smiled at Sammy, nonverbally saying "You're welcome."

Off to the side of the scene, Alex looked off into the distance, his thoughts repeating a single message over and over again;

"_What about me?"_

* * *

**When will Alex get the spotlight? It obviously won't be a long wait, so tune in for the next Digimon: Digital Monsters!**

* * *

**There you have it. Review, Please.**


	5. Mechamon the Honest

_Digimon Legacy_

_Episode 5_

**Mechamon the Honest**

Alex simply stood there, on the roof of his house, replaying the incident from earlier that day over and over again in his head. He didn't understand a huge chunk of it… or any of it, for that matter. All he did manage to piece together was that he was the same as the four others he had been with that day. He was going to be attack by one of those strange creatures.

Maybe he should meet up with the other four sometime soon, get the basic idea of what the hell is going on.

"Alex! Come inside! It's getting late!" Alex's mother called from inside the house.

"Okay, Mom! I'll be right there!" Alex shouted back as he slowly got down from the roof. However, he still had quite a bit on his mind.

* * *

Meanwhile, at the shrine in the Digital World, Nathan glanced at the alter where the six medallions were floating aimlessly. He held his own medallion in his hand, gazing at it longingly.

"My brothers…" he said under his breath. "I will never give up on you…"

"Master Leviamon!" a screechy voice called out behind him. "Master Leviamon!" Just then, a small digimon that looked like a bowling ball with wings flew up to Nathan's side.

"How many times have I told you not to call me that?" Nathan asked the digimon threateningly. "As long as I have the appearance of a human, you will address me as such. Understood, DemiDevimon?"

"O-of course, Nathan," DemiDevimon responded, correcting his mistake.

"Now, what do you want!?"

"Well, uh, sir… about the five DigiCarnates…"

"Yes…"

"I request that you let me take care of them!" Nathan stared at DemiDevimon, saying nothing. DemiDevimon began to sweat under the pressure. "Is there a problem with that, Master Leviamon?"

"First of all, do not call me that, second, of course there's a problem with it!" Nathan shouted angrily. "There is no way in Heaven or Hell that you could successfully defeat those five DigiCarnates!"

"What about the one that hasn't resurrected yet? He is so ripe for the picking he's ready to explode!"

"Oh, puh-lease! You can't even digivolve to the Champion level. Suppose that straggler manages to resurrect. What will you do then?"

"Improvise. I'm a competent fighter, you know. I did get you a Mega level's Data Core, didn't I?"

"Yeah, a flimsy KingChessmon. Exactly how long did it take you to chase that one down?"

"I still got its Core, didn't I?"

"Forget it, buster. There is no way I'll let you screw this one up."

"Are you sure, sir?"

"Does this look unsure to you?" Nathan pointed at his acne scarred face as he said this.

"No…" DemiDevimon answered. "Although… what if I sent the Glitchmon after him?"

"No, we'll safe those for when they've started going to the Ultimate level."

"Then how about I sic Bakemon on him? That should do the trick!"

"In theory, yes it would. Considering our recent success rate, however, I doubt it would work out that well."

"Oh, come on, Master Levi-" Nathan glared daggers at the small bat digimon. "I-I mean, Nathan, as long as there's a supervisor to the battle, what could go wrong?"

"According to Murphy's Law, everything. But, fine. Escort Bakemon to the human world, and sic him on the one who has yet to resurrect. Make sure he gets the job DONE, and that he gets it done RIGHT."

"Right-o, Nathan!" DemiDevimon saluted to Nathan the best he could, and turned to fetch the ghost digimon. However, Nathan stopped him.

"But first…" Nathan handed the bat a tray of food. "…deliver this to the Medium. We can't have her going hungry, you know."

"Understood." With that said, DemiDevimon took the tray, and flew off out of the shrine. Nathan sighed as he watched the bat leave.

"Good help is so hard to come by these days…"

* * *

The next morning, in the human world, Alex was eating a breakfast consisting of buttermilk pancakes he made himself and a single glass of milk. His parents had already left for work, so he had the house to himself. In the back of his head, however, Alex just knew something bad was going to happen.

In the skies above the house, DemiDevimon was flying towards the area of residence with a ghost-like digimon behind him. This was Bakemon, a devious, evil ghost. DemiDevimon chuckled as the two digimon approached Alex's house.

About a mile away, Sammy lifted his head in shock, sensing two evil Data Cores approaching a gentler one. A pair of digimon was going to attack Alex. Elecmon noticed Sammy's stiff expression, and concern rose in his head.

"Hey, Sammy, what's wrong?" he asked.

"I have to make a call, quick!" Sammy shouted as he yanked his D-Memory out of his pocket, and pressed the lower left hand button on it. Immediately, the screen displayed a list of three names: Takashi Horiba, Makoto Inumoto, Yuna Hikarine. Sammy immediately pressed the center right button, making a call with all three. All of them answered on the first ring.

"We have trouble," was the first thing Sammy said into the device.

Back in the skies above Alex's house Bakemon and DemiDevimon looked down at the house in near delight.

"There it is, Bakemon. Your target is in there. Go get him!" Bakemon nodded in understanding and dashed down the building, phasing in through the wall to get to his target more quickly. DemiDevimon smirked in satisfaction… until he saw Alex walk out of the house right next door to the one Bakemon flew into, in reaction to which he nearly fell from his position in the sky. Alex glanced sidelong at the house Bakemon had flown into. He raised an eyebrow suspiciously.

"I thought that house was supposed to be torn down an hour ago." Right as he made the observation, a wrecking crew was seen approaching the abandoned house. "Guess I got the time wrong," he dismissed and began walking away. Bakemon barely made it out of the house before the wrecking ball smashed it to pieces. He glared daggers at the bat floating ten meters above him.

"What? How was I supposed to know exactly where he lived?" he asked, attempting to justify his mistake. Bakemon ignored him and swiftly made to chase after Alex. Alex heard the noise and glanced over his shoulder as the ghost digimon approached him.

"Zombie Claw!" Bakemon screamed as a pair of decaying claws materialized from under his cloak-like body and swiped them at Alex, but he ducked under them, and then made a run for it.

"You can run, DigiCarnate, but you can't hide!" Bakemon screamed as he continued to chase Alex.

"I wasn't going to try," Alex shouted back over his shoulder. Stopping abruptly, he turned around, picked up a lead pipe from the house that was demolished five minutes ago, and tried to swing it at the ghostly digimon. Unfortunately, the pipe went right through the intangible creature, not doing a bit of damage. Alex sweat dropped at this poor attempt at an attack. "Well… that could have gone better…"

"Oh, you're doomed, buster," Bakemon commented, retreating to a more ranged distance. "It's just no use." As Bakemon said this, an orb or darkness began to form in front of him, brimming with evil power. "Evil Charm!" Bakemon then launched the orb at Alex, who held up the pipe to try and shield himself. As the orb was about to hit him…

"Concert of Justice!" A barrier of music bars formed around Alex stopping the attack short. As Alex looked around in confusion, he saw Divamon standing off in the distance, Kibamon and Leomon right behind her. Pyrodramon was hovering in the sky, Senshimon standing on his back.

"The cavalry has arrived!" Pyrodramon exclaimed in pointless haughtiness. DemiDevimon looked on from the sidelines in annoyance.

"Damn it! How did they find out we were here so fast!?" he asked in annoyance. Bakemon, however, simply smirked at the other Champions.

"Good thing I always have a back-up plan. Poison Breath!" Bakemon shouted, exhaling a nauseous mist at the five Champions standing there, caught off-guard by the microscopic recovery time. All of them were simply too shocked to react in time, and ended up breathing in the poisonous mist, coughing and hacking in response to it.

"What-what is this?" Kibamon choked out between coughs.

"I- I feel-weak…" Leomon moaned, reverting back to Elecmon as he lost more and more energy. The four DigiCarnates soon after reverted to human forms, falling to their hands and knees immediately afterwards. Sammy and Takashi, having been airborne at the time of the poison's release, fell down to the ground and passed out on impact, the soft grass saving them from outright death. Alex looked at this in horror.

"_They're in trouble…" _Alex thought in despair. _"If this ghost doesn't kill them, the poison he threw at them will. Unless that thing is defeated soon, they'll die."_

"Those five are doomed anyway…" Bakemon said as he turned to Alex in smug happiness. "…so I'll give you all of my attention. By the time I'm done with you, the poison should have run its course and killed the others, leaving their Data Cores ripe for the picking." He slowly approached Alex, who stood his ground, the pipe held at the ready.

"You coward…" Alex muttered under his breath.

"Pardon?"

"You're a fucking coward!" Alex screamed at the ghost in front of him. "You arranged to face me one-on-one, disabling anyone who could provide a numbers advantage! Using poison to take out any interlopers… YOU DISGUST ME!" As Alex continued screaming his heart out, the pipe in his hand began to glow softly, but neither he nor Bakemon took notice.

"Call me a coward, will you!?" Bakemon screamed in outrage.

"Yes…" Alex growled, his pipe glowing even brighter. "Yes I do."

"You are such a loser. You call me a coward, and yet you have to hide behind those five. You're the weak one."

"I know…" Alex stated calmly. "I know I'm weak… but that doesn't mean I'll just stand by and let you kill those who would put their lives on the line for those they care about!" As the words left his mouth, the pipe glowed so brightly, it was painful to look at it. Alex shielded his eyes from the glow in surprise, Bakemon cringing away from it instead. Seconds later, the glow dimmed down to nothing, revealing not the pipe Alex was holding seconds ago, but a shiny grey D-Memory with yellow grips. On the back of it, there was a symbol resembling an "X" formed by bolts of lightning.

"Now this is more like it…" Alex commented as he held out his new digivice, the symbol appearing on the screen. Alex lifted his left hand above his head, watched it transform to wire frame, and lowered it to his chest. He then slammed it on top of his D-Memory, his hair rising as if in response to a static charge.

"**Honesty Resurrection! Sequence: Activate!"** Alex screamed, removing his hand from his D-Memory. As it left the port, a torrent of data shot out, and the rest of Alex's skin and clothes peeled away from him to reveal wire frame. The data encircled Alex's body, coating it in silver metal, plated in numerous areas. On the tops of his forearms, small black rectangles were placed. Black wires ran from his back to his forearms, upper arms, thighs, and neck. A cloud of black hair ran from the top of his head, his eyes were hidden behind a metal visor, and only his mouth and nose were visible around the armor. This new figure smirked, and raised his right hand, which he replaced with a Gatling gun, and fired a few rounds at nothing in particular, shouting its name eagerly.

"Mechamon!"

_Digimon Analyzer_

Mechamon

Level: Champion

Attribute: Data

Type: Android

Family: Metal Empire

Attacks: Gatling Barrage, Taser Bolt, Thunder Kick

Bakemon simply looked on, unimpressed with the cybernetic digimon that now stood before him.

"So you finally resurrected, I can just weaken you the same way I weakened the others. Poison Breath!" Bakemon once again released a cloud of poisonous mist from his mouth, but since Mechamon was not fully organic, the poison was useless against him. Mechamon slowly raised his right arm, the rectangular hatch on the top opening to allow a strange Taser-like object to rise out, aiming it right at the ghost. Energy flowed to the device through the wires on Mechamon's body, charging the Taser.

"Taser Bolt!" Mechamon then fired an electric blast at Bakemon, electrocuting him and destroying him before he even had time to scream. DemiDevimon looked on in shock, but then immediately turned tail and fled. Mechamon looked on in satisfaction, reverting back to Alex.

Yuna slowly got to her feet, the poison in her system purged with Bakemon's defeat. Alex turned to her in concern.

"Are you alright, miss?"

"I'll live… help me take the others inside." Alex then ran over to Mac, gently lifting him off the ground bridal style, smiling a little as he did so.

"_This might actually have a plus side…"_ he thought slyly.

* * *

Meanwhile, back in the Digital World, Nathan stood over a cowering DemiDevimon, screaming his head off in anger.

"YOU DOLT!" He screamed. "You let the last of them resurrect! What do you have to say for yourself!?"

"Don't hurt me!" DemiDevimon cried in desperation.

"Oh, I won't. I promise you, you won't feel a thing…" Nathan said as he removed his medallion and his D-Memory from his pockets. Nathan then tossed the medallion into the air, and caught it in his left hand, which broke apart into black wire frame, and slammed the medallion into the coin slot of his digivice. **"Grand Envy Resurrection! Sequence: Activate!" **Nathan had no idea a Rookie digimon could taste so good.

* * *

**Looks like Nathan is losing patience with the DigiCarnate. What will he throw at them next? Find out next time on Digimon: Digital Monsters!**


	6. The Legend of the Time Keepers

_Digimon Legacy_

_Episode 6_

**The Legend of the Time Keepers**

* * *

In a dark, dank room somewhere in the Digital World, a woman kneeled, chained to the wall behind her, her face hidden in shadow. As she simply kneeled there, Nathan walked in, a tray of food in his hands.

"Dinner time," was all he said as he set the tray in front of her. The woman still kneeled, refusing to look up at the DigiCarnate of the Demon Lord of Envy. Nathan looked on in disdain. "Oh, come on. You're not still holding your imprisonment against me, are you?"

"What's your goal?" the woman asked suddenly. "Why don't you just kill me now and get it over with? Why do you make me suffer!?"

"I've told you, I need you alive," Nathan answered as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. "You're the Medium. Only you have to power to lead me to those four idiots." He then turned to leave the room, but the woman stopped him with another question.

"And who, exactly, do you want me to find?" Nathan glanced at her over his shoulder.

"The Time Keepers,"

* * *

In the Real World, Takashi began to come around, finding himself on a bed in a room he didn't recognize. The last thing he remembered was Bakemon spewing this green mist, and feeling like his insides were melting… hang on…

That guy! The one Bakemon was attacking!

Takashi moved to get out of the bed, but he still felt weak from the poison he had inhaled and his impact with the ground. He gasped at the sudden pain in his side, grasping it in fear.

"Takashi!" he heard a girl nearby shout in concern, he turned his head to see Yuna running towards him in concern. "You're awake!"

"How… How long was I out for?"

"About three hours. Mac, Sammy and Elecmon came to a little while ago. They're waiting with Alex in the living room." As she said this, she gently helped Takashi off the bed. Neither of them noticed the other's face turning as red as a tomato.

As Yuna had said, Alex, Sammy, Mac and Elecmon were waiting for them in Alex's living room, sitting around an old coffee table in the center. Mac was trying to place as much distance between himself and Alex as politely possible, a noticeable blush on his face. He regained his composure as soon as he noticed Yuna and Takashi walking towards them.

"Hey, Takashi! You're finally awake!" he shouted happily. Takashi simply grinned at him. Elecmon hopped onto the table as Yuna and Takashi took seats next to Mac, Sammy and, of course, each other.

"Well, with Alex having resurrected now… we're up to five DigiCarnates," Elecmon started, gaining everyone's attention. "The time has come for me to explain the danger we are currently facing."

"You mean Nathan and his cronies?" Takashi asked impatiently. "We already know he wants the five of us dead… and that he's a DigiCarnate like us." Takashi remembered the D-Memory he saw Nathan using that day in the park.

"Not exactly like you…" Elecmon started.

"What do you mean?" Alex asked.

"Maybe, I should start at the beginning. Ages ago, the Digital World I came from enjoyed an era of peace and prosperity. Then, as if from nowhere, seven digimon of unlimited evil appeared, and began terrorizing innocent digimon and destroying everything in their path. They called themselves the Demon Lords, each of the seven representing one of the deadly sins." Mac looked at the small Rookie in horror and disbelief.

"So… Nathan is…"

"…the reincarnation of one of the Demon Lords, yeah," Elecmon finished Mac's conclusion. "He is the DigiCarnate of Leviamon, the Demon Lord of Envy. It is said that he could devour the entire Digital World in his titanic maw. With his six comrades, he was able to send the digital world into the grip of terror."

"That's insane!" Takashi interrupted. "Are you seriously telling me that no one had the guts to stand up against those terrorists!?"

"There were digimon who fought back," Yuna spoke up. She looked at Alex and Sammy then, and smiled gently at them. "Remember?" Sammy nodded.

"Yeah, I remember. In our previous lives, Yuna, Alex and I had gathered a group of digimon who wanted the Demon Lords to be gone, leaving everyone alone. We called ourselves 'Demon Hunters'."

"Demon Hunters?" Mac chipped in.

"Yeah… it certainly seemed to fit…" said Alex as he glanced towards the ceiling, recollecting the memories of his previous life. "At the time, the three of us were Mega level, and thus we could fight the Demon Lords on an equal playing field. A fierce war had broken out once we made our first strike… so fierce that only the three of us survived all the way to the end. However, one by one, we defeated all seven of the Demon Lords… or so we thought, I'm guessing."

"You're guessing?" Takashi interjected.

"Shortly after our victory, we took each of the Demon Lords' Code Keys, and sealed them in the very shrine that they had erected for themselves, but we had to give up our lives to do so. If one would want to break the seal, you'd need the Data Cores of the four Time Keepers."

Elecmon nodded grimly. "Yeah… you're right. Leviamon was able to slip away during the war, and escaped the fate of his comrades."

"But…" Mac felt the need to inquire. "Who the heck are these 'Time Keepers'?"

"The Time Keepers are four digimon who keep watch over the flow of time and the events within it. Each one represents a crucial time of day: Dawn, Noon, Dusk, and Midnight. It is rumored that if all four of them were to die, time itself would cease to exist." Mac and Takashi stared at Elecmon in awe. "When Leviamon learned of the seal placed on his brothers and how to break it, he immediately set out to hunt and destroy the four Time Keepers, starting with the Keeper of Noon, Amataramon." Takashi felt something twitch in the back of his head at the name, but he dismissed it as anxiety. "The two engaged in a terrible battle, neither ready to let the other claim victory. In the end, they died at each other's hands. Strangely, neither of their Data Cores was ever found afterwards."

"Meaning… both of them were reborn as humans, right?" Mac figured.

"I-I think so…" Elecmon admitted. "We already know Leviamon was reborn."

"So it would stand to reason that Amataramon also became a human being, given that both of them had died under the same conditions."

"But…" Takashi had just thought of something. "Nathan will be going after that DigiCarnate." Everyone looked at him questioningly. "Nathan's goal is the free the Code Keys of his fellow Demon Lords, isn't it?"

"Yeah…" Elecmon answered. "Why?"

"To do that, he needs the Data Cores of all four Time Keepers, including Amataramon. If Amataramon has indeed been reborn as a human, than Nathan will stop at nothing to hunt down and kill him. To counter that, we have to do the same thing and protect him at all costs." Mac could see that Takashi was right. But there was just one problem:

"How will we if he's the one when we find him?" Mac put out there. "It's not like he'll be wearing a shirt reading 'I'm the reincarnation of a Time Keeper'."

"We can at least identify DigiCarnates in general," Sammy spoke up. "I can sense the energy of Data Cores. We can use that to locate DigiCarnates and protect them from Nathan."

"We still won't know which one is Amataramon…" Mac pointed out. "For all we know, he could be one of us."

"Mac…" Alex started. "You're getting worked up over nothing. As long as we protect any DigiCarnate we find, it won't matter which of them is Amataramon. We can just keep everyone safe while Nathan has to try and weed him out via trial-and-error. Besides…" he leaned closer to Mac as he spoke now. "… Closeness makes the heart grow fonder." He winked at Mac and clicked his tongue alluringly. Mac paled and blushed at the same time in response, scooting farther away and slipping off the couch as a consequence. Takashi rolled his eyes in annoyance.

"Anyway," he interjected before things went further out of hand. "We can't just assume Nathan has no way of detecting DigiCarnates. He was able to identify each of us as such; that's why he sent evil digimon after us. He'll always be one step ahead of us."

"We have to be ready for anything," Yuna added on. "But let's face it… as long as we stink together, nothing can beat us. We have the power of friendship on our side." Everyone smiled in response, reassured by the girl's passionate resolve.

"You're right, Yuna," Takashi responded. "Let's show Nathan whose boss!"

"Yeah!"

* * *

The shine of the Demon Lords remained as dark and dank as ever. Nathan walked over to the alter, a glowing yellow orb in his hand: the Data Core of random digimon. He gently set the Core into an indent around the alter, and the shrine glowed briefly in an uncomfortable glow before it died down again.

"Still not there yet…" Nathan noted in annoyance. "The Data Core of a DigiCarnate will make this go so much faster…" he closed his eyes in concentration, searching the real world for those who had been reborn to the other side. He smirked evilly as he found a few worthy targets.

* * *

**Who exactly is Amataramon reborn? Will the DigiCarnates find him before Nathan does? Keep watching Digimon: Digital Monsters!**


	7. Hoard Wars

_Digimon Legacy_

_Episode 7_

**Hoard Wars**

* * *

Takashi woke up calmly and wasted no time in putting his usual clothes on. It had been a week since Alex had resurrected, and Nathan hadn't sent a single digimon after them. He was most liking biding his time.

Frank barged into the room just as Takashi finished getting dressed, yanking the poor boy out of his thoughts.

"You ready, son?" Frank asked, and then continued before Takashi could even open his mouth. "Good. You and Erin are going to aid me in a job. Your friend Mac called minutes ago, he and his folks want me to aid them with something involving their Uncle Jackson, I wasn't listening all that well. All I know is that they're willing to pay us and the job will take a LOT of people, so get your butt downstairs ASAP." With that, he slammed the door, and dashed down the stairs and out the front door. Takashi could only look on in bewilderment.

"Why do I suddenly feel like it was a bad idea to get out of bed?" he asked nobody in particular.

* * *

Several minutes later, Frank, Erin, and Takashi were walking through the suburban district of Tokyo; towards the address Mac's father had given them. Takashi had the feeling that something really bad was going to happen during this job, more than likely involving Nathan in some way. He forced the thought out of his head as he saw Mac, his parents, and a middle aged man who could only be his Uncle Jackson appear in the distance. Takashi broke out into a run to meet up with his best friend sooner. He managed to stop right in front of the DigiCarnate of Loyalty.

"Hey, Mac," Takashi greeted him. Mac grinned, appreciating his friend's willingness to help with this problem. "So, you called my dad asking for his assistance with a job?"

"Yeah," Mac started. "We want you guys to help us clean out Uncle Jackson's 'house'." Takashi noted the air quotes Mac made at the word "house", and Jackson's nervous facial expression. Takashi had to wonder what was going on with him.

"Just clean the place up? That shouldn't be hard enough to require seven people," Takashi stated as he walked towards the front door of Jackson's home. "This isn't that big a house."

"It's not what you're thinking, Takashi," Mac warned him. Takashi had started opening the door.

"Come on, Mac. How messy can it-" Takashi then got a good look at the interior. "OH MY GOODNESS!" Takashi couldn't even see the room; there was too much useless junk in the way, piled all the way up to the ceiling, occupying every cubic inch of the building. "Is this a house or a storage closet?"

"Exactly," Mac responded. "Uncle Jackson is the biggest hoarder in all of Japan. He hasn't thrown out a single item in twenty years."

"…and he managed to cram all of that into a single house!?"

"Uh-huh."

Takashi continued to stare into the overcrowded residence in sheer disbelief. How can some be so big a hoarder that he would render his own home uninhabitable? How could someone be so… un-Japanese?

"Well…" Takashi slowly turned towards Mac and his family, a forced smile on his face. "Shall we get started?" Jackson whimpered pathetically.

* * *

Meanwhile, in the shrine of the Demon Lords, Nathan was observing an image of Jackson in a cloud of black mist. He grinned evilly.

"The man is the DigiCarnate of a Chief Numemon. If I can steal his Data Core while everyone else is busy cleaning out his home…" Nathan took a short break to chuckle smugly. "I'll be that much closer to seeing the lock on my brothers' Code Keys. But who to send for the job?" As he said this, a number of smaller images appeared along the circumference of the mist, each depicting a digimon under Nathan's control. He immediately narrowed the choices down to Champion level digimon only. "Maybe… Starmon? No, he's too noticeable. BlackGarurumon isn't any better… Soulmon…" he paused, considering the advantages. "Yeah, he's perfect. He should be able to sneak up behind the hoarder and yank out his Data Core before anyone even notices." He disperses the mist, and turns around, his face falling immediately afterwards. "But then again, Murphy's Law doesn't exactly favor antagonists until the midway point of a story… oh, well. There's always the renegade KingChessmon."

* * *

Back in the real world, Takashi, Frank, Erin, Mac and his parents were slowly carrying all of Jackson's junk out of his house as Jackson, tied to a chair and unable to interfere, watched in horror.

"Calm down, Jacky," Jackson's sister (Mac's mother) reassured him. "We're just getting everything outside so we can easily decide what to keep and what to throw out."

"Th-throw out!?" Jackson screeched.

"Come on, dude," Frank chastised the man. "Three quarters of the content of that house is nothing but useless junk, and the remaining quarter… you don't even need."

"I DO NEED IT!" Jackson protested. Takashi walked out of the house at that moment, carrying a box full of brass and woodwind instruments.

"Do you even know how to play these things?" Takashi asked for no reason other than to prove his dad's point. Jackson hung his head in shame. Right behind him, Soulmon, invisible to the unaided eye, crept up behind the man, preparing to execute his mission.

Takashi set the box down on the sidewalk, and pulled a silver coated flute from inside, giving it a thorough examination, which included eyeing the inside of the flute, testing its weight, pressing on the holes to test durability, and playing an ascending scale on it. Satisfied with the condition of the flute, Takashi proceeded to play a gentle melody on it, slow and steady like the flow of time, providing a sense of calm and tranquility, yet at the same time lending a sense of duty and purpose. Soulmon stopped what he was doing when he heard the song, its eyes widening in disbelief. That's-

At that precise moment, Soulmon accidentally cut the ropes holding Jackson to the chair… and the deed did not go unnoticed. Mac had seen what had happened, and immediately became suspicious. Soulmon stared helplessly at Mac's accusing glare, and decided to just throw caution to the wind and get this thing over with.

"Necro Magic!" Soulmon exclaimed, firing black lightning at the boxes of junk, surprising everyone in the area. As Soulmon's spell hit the items, they began vibrating violently, and then shot upwards towards the sky, coming back down right next to Soulmon, amalgamating to form a massive golem made of miscellaneous junk. Takashi stopped playing as he watched this monstrosity come into being. He reached for his D-Memory, but hesitated. He couldn't resurrect in front of Mac's parents. Mac never told his parents about his ability to read minds, and Takashi seriously doubted that he told them about his previous life.

Soulmon fazed into the head of its junk behemoth, laughing evilly as he did so, looking down at the people below him in smug glee. The behemoth moved a single step towards Mac's mother, raising a fist to pound her into the concrete, but Mac pulled her out of the way before the fist could touch her. Jackson only looked on in confusion and horror.

"Takashi!" Mac shouted over at his friend. "We have to resurrect! Now!" He had already removed his D-Memory from his pocket.

Takashi moved to take out his own D-Memory, but before he could do anything, he noticed the behemoth preparing to attack Frank, who only stared at the beast, frozen in horror.

"Dad, look out!" Takashi screamed. As the fist was coming down on Frank, Jackson suddenly jumped between him and the titan, taking the blow instead. A single finger from the junk behemoth phased into Jackson's chest, and came back out with an acid green orb on its tip: Jackson's Data Core. Jackson stared at this in depression as his strength began to leave him, his heart unable to function properly without that Data Core. Only Frank heard the last words to leave his mouth as he allowed the cold embrace of death to take hold of him:

"Forgive me… sister…"

Mac's mother rushed straight to Frank's side, staring at her brother lying limp and motionless in the man's arms.

"Jackson!" she shouted at him, nudging him with increasing roughness. "Jackson! Open your eyes! Come on, this is no time for a nap! JACKSON!" Tears ran down the surface of her face as she came to realize the truth; her brother was dead.

Mac stood on the sidelines, staring at his mother sympathetically. His free hand clenched into a fist, and he turned towards Soulmon's puppet in controlled outrage.

"You'll pay for that," he barely whispered to the golem. With his promise in place, he held out his D-Memory as his Mark of Loyalty appeared on the screen, and snapped the fingers of his free hand, breaking it down to wire frame. He then slammed his hand on top of his D-Memory, as per the usual procedure. **"Loyalty Resurrection! Sequence: Activate!"** As he shouted this, he removed his hand from his Digivice, allowing the torrent of data to flow outwards, and the remainder of his skin and clothes peeled away to reveal the wire frame underneath. The data circled around Mac's body, reshaping it to what he was in his previous life. "Kibamon!"

Kibamon stared down with the junk behemoth Soulmon put together, anger evident on his face. Mac's parents, deeply absorbed in Jackson's death, didn't even notice the battle about to go underway. The Horiba trio simply stood back, letting the two Champions duke it out. Erin ran up beside Takashi before things got started.

"Takashi, you have to help him," she said to him. "You have to resurrect now."

"It's not my battle to fight, Erin," Takashi responded. "Mac is fighting for his family. If I interfere, his pride and honor would be tarnished. Mac has made his choice… and as his best friend, I have to respect it." Erin was about to protest, but stopped, knowing her brother was right. This is Mac's battle. All they can do is quietly cheer him on from the sidelines.

The junk golem immediately threw a punch at Kibamon, the wolf easily leaping out of the way. Kibamon's fangs suddenly started radiating energy.

"Saber Fang!" He shouted as he bit deeply into the titan's arm, Soulmon hissing in pain inside. Unfortunately, while Kibamon was hanging from the arm, the titan flung Jackson's Data Core through a portal to the Digital World, right into Nathan's hands. Only Erin and Takashi saw this from where they were standing. Eventually, the golem was able to throw Kibamon off of him, the lupine digimon easily landing on his own four paws. Less than five seconds afterwards, Kibamon suddenly started gagging and spitting randomly, much to Takashi and Erin's concern.

"What's wrong!?" Takashi asked in horror. "Are you poisoned!?"

"Bleagh! That was the worst thing I've tasted in my entire life!" Kibamon exclaimed in disgust, Takashi falling over anime style in response. "Disgusting! Oh, I think I'm going to be sick…"

"Kibamon! It's coming right at you! Focus!" Erin reprimanded him as the junk golem made to attack the wolf again. Kibamon leaped out of the way just in time, glaring at the golem in anger.

"You killed my uncle!" he screamed at the golem. "You crushed my mother's heart, and now, YOU WILL PAY FOR THAT CRIME!" The light energy began to gather in his mouth, forming a larger ball than he had fired before. "HOWLING SHOTGUN!" He launched the orb at the golem, breaking it to pieces the second it made contact, and destroying Soulmon with it. Kibamon landed heavily on the ground, panting like he had just run five marathons in a row. Obviously, he had put a little too much energy into that last attack. He passed out seconds later, reverting back to Mac in a spiral of data. Takashi and Erin ran to Mac's side, kneeling down next to him in concern.

"Is he going to…" Erin began.

"No, he'll live," Takashi reassured her. "He just put a little too much punch into that last attack."

"But…" she slowly turned to look at Mac's mother, still crying into her husband's shoulder, both him and Frank trying to comfort her. Takashi lowered his head in shame, paying his respects to poor Jackson Tachigawa. He couldn't believe that he had failed to protect him.

* * *

Meanwhile, in the shrine, Nathan held out his hand as Jackson's Data Core gently floated into it. He placed the Core into a vacant slot around the alter, triggering a much brighter illumination than the last time, although it was just as brief.

"Now we're moving," he noted gleefully. "One more Core… and then the battle really begins…"

* * *

**Only one more Core!? What are Takashi and the others going to do now!? To find out, keep watching Digimon: Digital Monsters!**


	8. Going Append

_Digimon Legacy_

_Episode 8_

**Going Append**

* * *

Takashi, Mac, Alex, and Sammy sat at their shared table in the karaoke bar as Yuna stood on stage performing. Takashi wasn't even listening to her, still depressed over his failure. He simply sat there, staring at the table and refusing to make eye contact with the other DigiCarnates. The other three looked on in concern.

"Hey, cheer up, Takashi," Alex attempted to reassure him. "You only failed to protect Mac's uncle because you didn't know he was a DigiCarnate. If I had been there and identified him, you would have been prepared." This only succeeded in worsening Takashi's mood. Takashi then started humming the song he had been playing the day of Jackson's death as Yuna returned to their table. She sighed in depression as she looked at Takashi.

"Look, Takashi, you know we're not going to get it perfect the first time," Yuna took her turn at cheering her secret crush up. "You should just forget this, and..."

"Forget it?" Takashi spoke up for the first time since arriving at the bar. "You want me to completely forget about the man who sacrificed his own life to save my dad's!?"

"N-no, what I meant was…"

"I can't believe you could be so heartless, Yuna." Yuna glared at Takashi in response to this.

"I'M heartless!? Aren't you the one who punched the waiter in the face when he asked you what was wrong!?"

"Now you're stepping to the defense of nosy strangers!? Who the hell are you siding with, you ditzy girl!?"

"Pinheaded brooder!"

"Loser!"

"Jerk!"

With that, they got up from their seats, briskly walked out the front doors of the bar, and stormed off in opposite directions. Mac, Alex, and Sammy all sighed heavily in annoyance, and slammed their heads into the table. Alex was the first to raise his head back up.

"What is wrong with those two?" he asked no one in particular. "Can't they see how they feel about each other?"

"That's how love often is, Alex," Mac stated to him. "Unless someone outright says it to them, they'll never realize they feel the same way about each other."

"Can I guess that a relationship between you and me…" Alex seductively leaned over the table towards Mac, "…might be one of those rare… exceptions?" Mac immediately broke out into a cold sweat.

"For the twenty-third time, Alex, I'm not gay."

"By my count, that would be the twenty-fourth time."

"Guys, that isn't important right now," Sammy butted in before things went out of control, Elecmon poking his head out from Sammy's bag to try and contribute something. "We need to help those two make amends or Nathan will tear us to pieces. As Abraham Lincoln of the United States once said, 'A house divided upon itself cannot stand.'"

"You're right, Sammy," Elecmon spoke up. "We should go follow them and try to set things straight."

"Alright then," Mac stood up from his seat as he spoke, assuming a role of authority. "I'll go talk to Takashi. You three try and find Yuna, got it?" Alex, Sammy and Elecmon nodded in confirmation. "Good. Now let's move." With that, they each left the bar, Mac heading in the direction Yuna went and Alex, Sammy and Elecmon head in Takashi's direction. Ten seconds later, the two parties turn around and walk past each other after they had realized that they went the wrong way.

"Takashi/Yuna went that way," they all said as they did so.

* * *

Meanwhile, Nathan watched his black mist as it showed the image of a woman in her early twenties exiting a supermarket. He laughed softly to himself.

"It's amazing how many DigiCarnates go through their entire lives without ever discovering what they really are…" he mused. "But that's not important. BlackGarurumon… don't fail me."

"As you wish, master…" a growling voice transmitted to Nathan's head.

* * *

Yuna trudged along the road, lost in her own thoughts. Why couldn't she ever just come out and say it? Why couldn't she even say it the way she wants to?

What does she have to do to tell Takashi she loves him?

There's no point, anyway. After that fiasco Yuna knew for sure that Takashi didn't feel the same way about her. Shame she had no idea that Takashi's thoughts were following the same line as hers.

As she walked, she accidentally bumped into someone, sending both of them down to the pavement.

"I'm so sorry; I didn't watch where I was going!" Yuna apologized as soon as she got back up.

"It's fine, miss," the person who was knocked down reassured her. Yuna saw that she was looking at a young girl, maybe eighteen or nineteen years old, with flowing blonde hair, eyes as radiant as the first rays of the sun, and skin as flawless as Yuna had ever seen. Before Yuna could say anything, the teenager spoke up again. "Is something on your mind?"

Yuna hesitated, wondering why a total stranger would want to hear about her love live. "Well…" Yuna started, but continued when she saw the serene look on the older girl's face. "There's this boy I like… but he doesn't feel the same way about me. We always fight about the stupidest things possible, and… There's just no way he could like me."

"You know what I think?" the other girl asked. "I think he says those things BECAUSE he feels the same way." Yuna looked at her like she had lost her mind. "He's just clueless about how to express it."

"But…"

"I know that boy loves you the same way you love him. You just have to express it, Yuna."

Yuna stood there as the young woman walked away. As she thought about it, she could see that the other woman was right. Takashi actually did love her; all of their arguments were just failed attempts to express their love. She just had to get the message across loud and clear. Yuna found just the right way to do that when another thought suddenly popped into her head.

How the heck did that woman know her name? She never introduced herself to her.

Before Yuna could chase after the mystery woman, she heard another woman scream off in the distance. Reacting instantly, Yuna ran off in the direction of the scream. When she reached the sight, she discovered a massive, black wolf like digimon standing over the corpse of a twenty-some year old woman, her white Data Core held in his mouth. Yuna hid behind a nearby telephone pole before BlackGarurumon spotted her.

"That poor woman…" she whispered. Her face then set itself in a determined expression as she pulled her D-Memory from her pocket. "It's time for me to put on a little make-up." Yuna held her D-Memory out in front of her as her Mark of Passion appeared on the screen, and ran her other hand through her hair, breaking it apart to wire frame. She then slammed her hand on top of her Digivice. **"Passion Resurrection! Sequence: Activate!"** Yuna then removed her hand, allowing the stream of data to shoot out and transform her to her digimon form. "Divamon!"

Divamon stepped out from behind the telephone pole, rushing BlackGarurumon as he took notice of her. "Sonic Blaster!" Divamon fired her signature attack at the black furred wolf, hitting him dead in the side, but this only forced him back.

"Heh heh…" the wolf chuckled. "So… you're one of the DigiCarnates giving the boss so much trouble…" BlackGarurumon then spat the Core into a nearby portal before Divamon could react, and each of his paws glowed with a black light. "But I still have a few tricks up my sleeve!" With this, BlackGarurumon leaped high into the air, a pillar of shadow obscuring the sight of him. "BlackGarurumon digivolve to…" The pillar eventually receded to reveal the digimon, now standing upright and wearing clothes. "…ShadowWereGarurumon!"

As ShadowWereGarurumon landed heavily on the ground, Divamon only looked on in concern. Her opponent had absorbed a portion of that Data Core's energy and used it to digivolve to the Ultimate level. She's only a Champion; this isn't going to be an easy fight.

"Shadow Claw!" ShadowWereGarurumon didn't waste any time in starting the fight, charging at Divamon with his claws readied. Divamon was barely able to jump out of the way in time. Unfortunately, the werewolf digimon was already charging at her for round 2, forcing Divamon to use her microphone to block it. The two leaped away from each other in that moment.

"Heh heh heh heh…" ShadowWereGarurumon sneered at the struggling singer. "You see the great power difference between us?"

"Power difference?" Divamon asked in disgust. "You created that difference by murdering a defenseless woman, baka!"

"You so pathetic…" ShadowWereGarurumon laughed, full of himself. "What does it matter how it was made? I'm stronger than you, and that is a fact!" He then charged at Divamon, his claws ready to tear her to pieces.

"Thunder Kick!"

But he was suddenly knocked away by an electrically charged kick from…

"Mechamon!" Divamon immediately recognized the cybernetic digimon standing in front of her. When she turned her head, she could see Senshimon and Leomon heading her way right now.

"We got here as fast as we could!" Senshimon shouted to her in an attempt to clear them of charges. "Now you can just leave the rest to us, and…"

"No," Divamon said immediately and courtly. The other three champions stared at her questioningly. "I'll finish him myself. He has to pay for that poor woman's murder." Divamon didn't notice her chest glowing a bright blue color.

"It's your funeral," ShadowWereGarurumon growled at her. Before he could attack again, however, a column of aqua light exploded up around Divamon, blocking her from his view. Inside, Divamon could feel power expanding within her Core, sending her up… to the next level. She smirked in satisfaction.

In response to unspoken instructions, Divamon held up her right hand as a mark resembling a seven pointed star circled by seven isosceles triangles-the emblem of the Demon Hunters-appeared on the back of her hand. She slowly lowered it to chest level, and turned it around to reveal she's holding her D-Memory in that hand. She then pressed the top button on it, allowing a stream of data to flow from the top.

"Divamon Mode Change to…" she waved her D-Memory around her body, altering her outfit. Her school outfit was exchanged for a skin-tight body suit, colored black and white with no sleeves or leggings. The code on her left arm changed to read "L-05". Divamon raised her hands above her head to grab a pair of headphones and slipped it over her ears. The bangles she was wearing changed to white gloves that ran down to her elbows, the synthesizer bars visible through them. With the change complete, Divamon spun around three times, going into a confident pose. "…Append Mode!"

_Digimon Analyzer_

Divamon Append Mode

Level: Ultimate

Attribute: Vaccine

Type: Humanoid, Android

Family: Metal Empire, Virus Busters

Attacks: Vocal Cannon, Redeeming Light, Art of Nejutsu

Senshimon, Mechamon, and Leomon all started at Divamon's new outfit, the former two remembering that Divamon didn't actually become a different digimon when she digivolved; she simply changed modes from Star Mode (Champion) to Append Mode (Ultimate) and finally to Superstar Mode (Mega). Divamon breathed in deeply as she remembered how exhilarating her mode changes felt.

"So you changed clothes," ShadowWereGarurumon sneered, not realizing that Divamon was now at the same level as him. "It won't make any difference! Shadow Claw!" Naturally, the black werewolf charged blindly at Divamon, but this time, she was ready for him.

"Art of Nejutsu!" She shouted as she easily countered ShadowWereGarurumon's claws with a series of fast punches and kicks accompanied with battle cries of various volumes and pitches. She finished up with a hard kick to the face which sent the werewolf crashing through the building behind him. Thankfully, no one was inside.

"How… how could she…?"

"It's over, murderer," Divamon growled at the black werewolf, raising her microphone to her mouth, her other hand held forward, in the direction of ShadowWereGarurumon. "Vocal… CANNON!" She screamed into her microphone, sending a massive beam of energy at the werewolf lying several meters in front of her. ShadowWereGarurumon's eyes widened in horror as the attack closed in on him

"Wait! No! Spare me, PLEASE!" he pleaded pathetically as the Vocal Cannon attack obliterated him, leaving nothing behind. Leomon reverted to his Rookie form as the others changed back to their human forms. Yuna collapsed to her knees as soon as she reverted, Alex and Sammy rushing to her side in concern.

"Yuna!" Alex cried out, worried for his fellow Demon Hunter. "Are you alright?"

"I'll be fine," Yuna reassured him. "I guess going to the Ultimate level just takes a lot out of you."

"I see…" Sammy observed. "We shouldn't digivolve to Ultimate that often. We'd better save it as a last resort."

"Oh, hey, guys," Yuna decided to change the subject. "Do any of you know where Takashi is? There's something I have to say to him."

"Well, Mac should be talking to him right about now, so…"

"Okay, call Mac on his D-Memory, and tell him…" Yuna whispered the rest of her instructions into Sammy's ear, his face taking on a sly expression as he listened. Once Yuna was finished, Sammy immediately called Mac.

* * *

Thirty minutes later, Mac and Takashi walked back into the karaoke bar, Takashi still as glum as ever, this time over his blown chances at telling Yuna how he felt. Mac found the table Alex and Sammy were sitting at and, just as Sammy had told him, guided Takashi to sit in between the two of them, while Mac himself sat next to Sammy.

"Alright, Sammy, why did you call me here?" Takashi asked in annoyance.

"Just wait…" Sammy answered. Seconds later, the lights dimmed to pitch black and the music of the song started up. Takashi recognized it as the most recent song performed by Miku Hatsune, but couldn't remember the title or lyrics. As the song progressed to the first bit of vocal, a spot light suddenly shown on their table, revealing Yuna standing right in front of Takashi, scarring the heck out of him.

"_Heart Shooter!"_

Yuna fired a confetti gun at Takashi's chest as he fell back in his chair, landing heavily on the floor. Yuna leaped off the table, landing in front of Takashi as she pulled him to his feet. It was that exact moment that he noticed that he was right next to a section of the bar where all of the tables had been pushed aside, leaving a large dance space. Yuna then dragged him onto the makeshift dance floor as she continued singing, swinging Takashi around in an unexpected dance.

"_I knew it right from the start._

_You pulled a gun on my heart,_

_And with one shot, I could tell_

_That I was under your spell._

_Each time you say 'I love you'_

_This feeling starts over new_

_And when I see you take aim,_

_It sends me reeling again!_

_You are more dear to me than_

_The world's most wonderful things_

_Of which reflect in your eyes_

_And make my heart start to sing!_

_Whenever I hear your voice,_

_It's an incredible sound._

_I am soaring so high,_

_My feet don't touch the ground!_

_So let's take time to embrace_

_The sound that resonates_

_Together-Here with you!_

_Can't you see_

_What this shot right through my heart_

_Has done to me?_

_Ah-ah… I am barely breathing_

_Now that I see_

_That the trigger pulled on me_

_Was to show me how you love me so_

_Come on and be_

_My Heart Shooter!"_

Takashi just stared at Yuna as she continued the song. Was she… confessing love to him? He was still too slow to join the dancing, but as soon as the second verse started, Yuna pushed him into a nearby chair, so it really didn't matter.

"_How do you not understand_

_The things I'm trying to say?_

_Each time we open our mouths_

_Words don't come out the right way_

_And sometimes we start to fight_

_Over the silliest things_

_And with it tend to forget_

_All the warmth that we bring!_

_You know that I can forgive_

'_Cause I've got so much love I can give._

_I don't it worry me!_

_Can't you see_

_What this shot right through my heart_

_Has done to me?_

_Ah-ah… Am I going crazy?_

_Now that I see_

_That the trigger pulled on me_

_Took hardly any effort_

_Didn't you already know?_

_Heart Shooter!"_

Takashi only stared in disbelief at the lyrics leaving Yuna's mouth. She actually felt that way about him? She… She loved him!? He didn't notice that during the instrumental part of the song Yuna had come up right in front of him, staring dead into his eyes.

"_Didn't you see_

_What your shot right through my heart_

_Has done to me?_

_Ah-ah… You're always what I'm thinking of._

_Now that I see_

_That this trigger pulled on me_

_Will never change my love, baby,_

_Come on and see-_

_Can't you see_

_What this shot right through my heart_

_Has done to me?_

_Ah-ah… I am barely breathing._

_Now that I see_

_That the trigger pulled on me_

_Was to show me how you love me so,_

_Come on and be_

_My Heart Shooter!"_

Yuna then pulled Takashi back out of his seat and once again swung him in a dance he didn't see coming. And then, as the final note of the song rang out, Yuna leaned forward and kissed Takashi right on the lips. Initially caught off guard by the sudden advance, Takashi eventually lost himself in the kiss, finally lifted from his despair.

* * *

**About time those two got the message, but what will Nathan send next? Will it be those Glitchmon things he mentioned in the fifth episode? Find out next time on Digimon: Digital Monsters!**


	9. Night of the Glitchmon

_Digimon Legacy_

_Episode 9_

**Night of the Glitchmon**

* * *

Within the walls of the shrine to the Seven Demon Lords, Nathan held out his hand as the woman's Data Core slowly fell into it. He sneered in delight as he watched it glow. Nathan then wasted no time in placing the core into the last empty slot around the alter. The shrine then glowed brightly and for a long period of time as the many Data Cores around the alter suddenly scattered, the slots disappearing. Then, four short pillars rose up around the alter, one towards each compass direction.

"Finally," Nathan sneered as he saw the lock on his brothers reveal itself at last. "All I need now are the Data Cores of those foolish Time Keepers, and then we can get our revenge…" He paused briefly. "Unfortunately, they tend to be rather elusive, and the Medium isn't cooperating. Oh, well. I'm sure I can twist her arm one way or another." He then summoned his usual black mist, seeing images of ShadowWereGarurumon getting beaten up by Divamon Append Mode.

"But first, I should seriously get a handle on those five. One of them has already moved on the Ulitmate level, and I just know that the other four aren't far behind. Perhaps I should start sending Glitchmon after them." The mist dispersed as he spoke, turning his attention to something in the shadows behind him. "Who knows… they might even add the pests to their ranks…" Several pairs of menacing red eyes appeared in the shadows behind him, malicious and unfeeling.

* * *

Alex, Sammy, and Elecmon sat around a table as they watched Mac pace back and forth along the room, talking to Yuna on his D-Memory. Yuna and Takashi were having their first date tonight, so the lovers' anxiety over it was understandable.

"So… how long has Yuna been holding him now?" Alex asked out of boredom.

"About an hour and a half," Sammy answered.

"Man… with the anxiety in the air, you'd think those two were getting married." Sammy glared at Alex out of the corner of his eye.

"This is their first date EVER. Of course they'd be a little nervous." He paused briefly. "Call me pessimistic, but I feel like Nathan is going to do everything in his power to ruin this night for them."

"More like he'll do so in the process of forwarding his plans…" Alex corrected. "I bet he'd still get some sick kick out of ruining the night for them." At this point Mac was finally able to hang up and joined the two Demon Hunters at the table.

"So we all know what we have to do, right?" Mac asked them, already knowing what they were talking about while he was on the phone.

"We have to follow them in the shadows and make sure their first date goes on without a hitch!" Sammy answered with vigor. Alex nodded in agreement, but Elecmon looked somewhat doubtful.

"You know they'll be furious if they find out we're spying on them…" he pointed out.

"I prefer to think of it as 'providing insurance'." Mac countered. The four of them then proceeded to head out to the scene of potential chaos. "Let's go."

* * *

It was six o'clock that night, at a small, outdoor café on the side of the road. Takashi was already there, waiting for Yuna with his nerves going haywire. He was dressed in a crimson polo shirt, tailored jeans that rested on his waist, and semi-formal shoes. He had his hair combed back, his bandanna and goggles left in his room back home. He did, however, have his D-Memory in his pocket, just in case.

Yuna came walking up to Takashi at that precise moment. Like Takashi, she was dressed semi-formally for the semi-formal date, with a dark red blouse and a much longer skirt. Yuna also had her D-Memory in her blouse pocket, just in case.

"Hey, Takashi, sorry I'm late," Yuna apologized as she got to her destination. "I got lost on the way here."

Takashi waved it off, gesturing to a nearby table which he and Yuna immediately sat down at. On a nearby rooftop, Alex looked down at the new couple through a pair of binoculars.

"Seems to be going smoothly so far…" he commented to himself. He put his D-Memory to his ear, reporting to Sammy and Mac. "This is Alex, in position, over."

"Mac in position, over."

"Sammy and Elecmon in position, over."

"Okay, Sammy, keep your senses keen for any evil digimon heading this way. The second you feel something, inform the rest of us immediately. We shouldn't have to let Yuna or Takashi get involved. Over."

"Understood, over." Sammy then hung up, looking down at the café from a roof opposite Alex's position, Elecmon hanging from his shoulder. By now, Yuna and Takashi had both ordered their food, and were making small talk while they waited. Mac was spying up close as another customer at the café, disguised with a bald cap and fake moustache. There were parts of the lovers' conversation he would have preferred not to hear. He did, however, give the next subject his undivided attention.

"Say, Takashi, I've been wondering," Yuna started hesitantly. "Where did you learn that song? You know the one you're humming all the time."

Takashi only stared at her, giving it a bit of thought. "Actually…" he shrugged uncomfortably. "I've known it for as long as I can remember."

"You don't remember where you learned it?"

Takashi shook his head in disappointment. "Nuh-uh. I don't even remember the thing's title."

Yuna stared at Takashi in bewilderment. There was something about that song… it was just that neither she nor Takashi knew what that something was.

At that moment exactly, Sammy felt something that made his skin crawl like an army of fire ants. It defiantly felt like a digimon's Data Core, but at the same time, it felt nothing like a digimon or DigiCarnate. It felt… distorted, twisted, and warped. It was right behind him!

He ducked out of the way just as obsidian black claws swung at where his head had been mere seconds earlier. Turning around, Sammy saw a horrid figure, looking like a sick cross between a teenage boy and some kind of orange dino-thing. Its eyes were empty, unseeing, and emotionless. Several sections of his skin seemed to spark and fizzle every few seconds.

"What is that thing!?" Sammy asked in fear.

"A Glitchmon: a Digicarnate who lost himself." Elecmon answered.

"Wh-what!?"

"Any DigiCarnate who gives in to anger and hatred runs the risk of turning into a Glitchmon: a heartless, soulless killing machine, with no memories of old self, unliving and undying, mercilessly killing other creatures unless they themselves are the ones to fall in battle."

"You… you mean… this thing… is a DigiCarnate like me!?"

"Was. There's nothing human left in him now." As if to prove Elecmon's point, the Glitchmon leaped at the two once again, however this time, Elecmon was ready, leaping towards the corrupt being as his chest began to glow red. "Elecmon digivolve to… Leomon!"

Once his digivolution was complete, Leomon wasted no time in slicing the Glitchmon in half with his blade, the Glitchmon crumbling to digital dust. Before Sammy could relax he felt hundreds of more Glitchmon in the area… and all of them were heading for the café! In his panic, Sammy almost dropped his D-Memory as he hastily called Mac and Alex on it.

"Guys! We've got trouble!" he screamed into his D-Memory loud enough for Yuna and Takashi to hear him over Mac's D-Memory, causing them to turn their attention to his table. "Massive Glitchmon army closing in on the café! Resurrect, NOW!" Immediately hanging up, Sammy held his D-Memory in front of him as his Mark of Gratitude appeared on the screen. Sammy then held up his free hand, which broke apart to wire frame, then lowered it to his chest, slamming his digivice into his open palm.** "Gratitude Resurrection! Sequence: Activate!"** Sammy then removed his hand, allowing the data torrent to reshape him to his digimon form. "Senshimon!"

Before Mac could follow Sammy's example, he noticed the two lovebirds glaring daggers at him from their table. Mac sweat dropped as the chair across from him spontaneously burst into flames.

"I can explain," he immediately tried to appease the two. He remained silent for several seconds as the other two DigiCarnates stared at him expectantly.

"And…" they both prodded him.

"That's all I got."

With Alex, he simply turned his head to see what appeared to be a massive flood of static from that distance. When he looked through his pair of binoculars, he could see it was actually a large amount of unusual creatures, all seemed to be a mixture of a human, age ranging from early teens to late thirties, and some random digimon, very few of which he recognized. All of them had varying amounts of static sifting off of their bodies. He gulped nervously.

"This isn't good…" he muttered. He then removed his D-Memory from his pocket as he smirked. "I like it." He then held out his D-Memory as his Mark of Honesty appeared on the screen. He raised his hand above his head as it broke apart to wire frame, lowered it to chest level, and then slammed it on top of his D-Memory, his hair rising statically. **"Honesty Resurrection! Sequence: Activate!" **Alex removed his hand from his D-Memory, allowing the data torrent to flow, and transform him to his digimon form. "Mechamon!"

Meanwhile, Mac was desperately trying to explain his intentions to Takashi and Yuna, the two lovebirds listening to him expectantly. Takashi glanced up briefly to notice the massive army of Glitchmon approaching the café.

"Mac…" he started in order to get his and Yuna's attention. "May I assume those are what Sammy was so panicked about?" They both turned to look at the approaching army.

"I think you can," Mac answered. Yuna sighed in annoyance.

"This is definitely not how a normal person would see their first date going," she commented. "Me, on the other hand… I actually saw this as a possible scenario. This just goes to show you how messed up our lives are." Her face suddenly donned a smirk as she pulled her D-Memory from her pocket. "Regardless of that… you boys ready for this?" Mac and Takashi simply pulled out their D-Memories and smirked back. "Then let's beat 'em up!"

All three of them held out their digivices as their respective marks appeared on the screens and each perform their usual procedure. **"Bravery/Loyalty/Passion Resurrection! Sequence: Activate!" **As they transformed into their respective digimon forms, none of them noticed a young woman- the same one Yuna met before she first went Ultimate- watching them from the interior of the café. She glanced at the approaching army in concern.

Back with Leomon and Senshimon, the two of them were surrounded by hundreds of Glitchmon, and were fighting tooth and nail to defeat them all.

"Blood fest," Senshimon calmly said as his katana began to glow bright red. He then charged at the Glitchmon, slicing several of them in half in less than five seconds.

"Fist of the Beast King!" Leomon roared as he launched a massive energy wave from his fist at the ring of monsters. Unfortunately, more of them just limped in to replace the ones they destroyed. Senshimon sighed in annoyance.

"At this rate, we'll be fighting these things all night," he noted. "If only I could go Ultimate, like Yuna…"

"Don't think about that right now!" Leomon shouted at him as they each sliced an incoming Glitchmon in half with their swords. "Focus on these things!" Just as he said that, a surprise attack from a small swarm of Glitchmon sent them sailing into the area where, Pyrodramon, Kibamon, and Divamon Star Mode were currently fending off large numbers of Glitchmon. Mechamon ended up in the area as well, sent flying by a Leomon like Glitchmon. Pyrodramon glanced around at his comrades in concern.

"This isn't good…" he noted. "They have us surrounded."

"What do we do?" Divamon asked in concern. At that precise moment, something caught her attention. She noticed the woman she met the other day walking out of the café, a wooden mandolin in her hands. She was about to tell the mystery woman to flee while she still had the chance when she suddenly started playing a song on the mandolin: the exact same tune Takashi played all the time. Divamon's mind blanked for a brief moment. How is it that she knew the same melody as Takashi? She even knew lyrics for it.

As the strange woman sang, Pyrodramon felt something stir within him. He felt a cluster of power within his Core free itself from its bonds, lifting him, elevating him to the next level. In that exact moment, a huge ring of fire exploded up around Pyrodramon like a shower curtain. Divamon was briefly distracted by this sudden occurrence, but when she turned back towards the café, the woman was gone.

Within the flame ring, Pyrodramon raised his hand high up above him. A spark of golden light appeared in the sky above him, and from it, his D-Memory falls into his outstretched hand. He immediately pressed the top button on the device, allowing a stream of data to flow from it, and he waved the device around his body. "Pyrodramon digivolve to…" As Pyrodramon allowed the data to circle him, it made the appropriate modifications to his body. The scales along his body grew harder and received a brighter gleam. A trail of fire erupted down his spine right down to the end of his tail. The bone helmet he was wearing became solid steel, and four black horns grew from the back of his head. Small iron pads grew from his hands and feet, protecting them from attacks. His wings gained a thin coating of the same metal. As the last of the changes finished, the new Ultimate level reared his head back, roaring out his name.

"…IronGreymon!"

_Digimon Analyzer_

IronGreymon

Level: Ultimate

Attribute: Data

Type: Reptile

Family: Dragon's Roar

Attacks: Hot Metal Barrage, Fire Cannon, Inferno Sprint

Everyone stared at Takashi's Ultimate form in awe except Divamon, whose focus was on the mysterious woman. How did she know the same song as Takashi? And why did her singing it help Takashi achieve Ultimate level?

"_I'll have time to worry about that later," _she finally decided. _"I have more important things to worry about. If Takashi is going Ultimate, then I should as well."_ With that, Divamon held up her right hand as the emblem of the Demon Hunters appeared on the back. She slowly lowered her hand to chest level, and turned it to reveal her D-Memory. She then pressed the top button, releasing a stream of data, and waved the device around her body. "Divamon mode change to…" The data flowed around her, altering her outfit to her Ultimate level. "…Append Mode!"

As soon as Divamon had finished going to the ultimate level, IronGreymon wasted no time in testing out his new abilities. Between the two of them, the Glitchmon were defeated easily. Later that night, after everyone had returned to human forms and Elecmon was back to the Rookie level, Yuna and Takashi were finally able to finish their date in peace… but Yuna told Mac about the woman she saw before Takashi digivolved to Ulitmate, and it got him thinking…

* * *

**Who exactly is this strange woman? To find out, keep watching Digimon: Digital Monsters!**


End file.
